URCC Champion Nicholas Mann will have his toughest test to date when he takes on Gregor Gracie at ONE FC 5. -- Photo by Anton Tabuena
As we wrote about earlier, half-brothers Gregor, Igor, and Rolles Gracie will all be competing at ONE FC 5 in Manila, Philippines. On Tuesday morning, sources within the promotion have informed BloodyElbow.com that their opponents have already been signed and finalized for the event on August 31st.
UFC Veteran, Rolles Gracie (6-1) will be taking on Tony Bonello (16-1), a fellow Gracie Jiu Jitsu blackbelt who has held KOTC titles in multiple divisions. Bonello won the promotion's light heavyweight title back in 2005, before moving up in weight and eventually claiming their cruiserweight (230 lbs.) championship on his last bout.
Gregor Gracie (6-2) on the other hand, will be looking to rebound off a tough loss to Adam Kayoom at ONE FC 4. As we reported earlier, Kayoom's training partner, Ray Elbe was offered the bout against Gregor, but unfortunately negotiations didn't pan out and neither side could agree to terms.
Stepping in to face Gregor instead is URCC Light Heavyweight Champion, Nicholas Mann (4-1), who will be dropping down to 185 lbs. for this match up. The Australian fighter has been training and competing in the Philippines for several years, and is fresh of an impressive victory on that Super-Fight against URCC Middleweight Champion, Froilan Sarenas last May.
As for the third Gracie appearing on the card, Igor will be facing a Korean fighter from Road FC in Jung Hwan Cha. Igor Gracie has a record of 5-2, and will be looking to extend his win streak to 5 when he makes his ONE FC debut.
After the jump, check out how the stacked Philippine ONE FC card is shaping up along with a video blog from ONE FC CEO Victor Cui. Follow me on twitter -- @antontabuena
ONE Fighting Championship 5: Pride of a Nation
August 31, 2012 -- Araneta Coliseum, Philippines- Shinya Aoki
- Bibiano Fernandes vs. Gustavo Falciroli
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Soa Palelei
- Jens Pulver vs. Eric Kelly
- Gregor Gracie vs. Nicholas Mann
- Renato Sobral
- Eduard Folayang
- Rolles Gracie vs. Tony Bonello
- Igor Gracie vs. Jung Hwan Cha
- Phil Baroni vs. Rodrigo Ribeiro
- Kevin Belingon
- Mitch Chilson
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