Asian MMA Update: Kelly vs. Banario Title Fight at ONE FC 7, Kawajiri vs. Omigawa at NYE

There's a bunch of news coming out of the Asian MMA scene, so as always, here's a round up of all the news:

ERIC KELLY AND HONORIO BANARIO SET TO BATTLE FOR ONE FC FEATHERWEIGHT BELT

ONE FC will host their next card on February, and set for the card is the inaugural ONE FC Featherweight Championship bout between Eric Kelly (9-0) and Honorio Banario (7-1), two friends and former training partners.

Kelly is coming off impressive victories in wars against Brad Terrey and Jens Pulver, while Banario is fresh off a dominant win over Andrew Benibe at ONE FC 5. The two Filipinos have trained together numerous times, but they will have to put their friendship aside when they clash for ONE FC gold.

Kelly suffered an eye injury during his last URCC bout, but it looks like the ONE FC star felt that he will be ready to face the Team Lakay product by February.

Also booked for the card in Kuala Lumpur, a 4-man featherweight tournament to crown a National Champion for Malaysia, with talented locals AJ Lias Mansor, Jian Kai Chee, Melvin Yeoh, and Raymond Tiew participating.

Malaysian stars, Peter Davis, Gianni Subba, and Adam Kayoom are all expected to be on the card as well. Check out the full fight card below.

TATSUYA KAWAJIRI VS. MICHIHIRO OMIGAWA ADDED TO DREAM 18 - GLORY 4 NYE SPECIAL

Tatsuya Kawajiri's NYE opponent has been made official, and he will be facing UFC veteran and fellow Japanese star, Michihiro Omigawa in a featherweight bout.

Kawajiri is coming off his fourth straight victory at ONE FC 3, and is currently undefeated at 145 lbs. Omigawa on the other hand, will be returning to Japan after going just 1-4 (arguably 2-3 if you consider the controversial loss against Elkins) on his second stint with the UFC.

Also announced for the kickboxing portion of the card are several non-tournament super-fights. The most notable ones are between Robin van Roosmalen and cosplayer Yuichiro Nagashima, along with a heavyweight bout between Jerome Le Banner and Koichi Pettas. The mega card for NYE is shaping up really nicely, so check out the full line up below.

OLE LAURSEN SHAKES OF THE RUST, WINS BY LEG KICK TKO IN MUAY THAI RETURN

Muay Thai champ turned MMA star, Ole Laursen has been away from competition for a while now, but he has still been trying to keep active while outside the cage. He hasn't been booked for MMA fights as of late, but he's currently set for a kickboxing showdown against one of the best in the business, in Giorgio Petrosyan.

In preparation to his return to stand up fighting, Laursen recently shook off some rust by competing in a Muay Thai bout. He picked up a leg kick TKO victory in Thailand, and you can watch the highlights below:

URCC CHAMP, RODRIGO PRAXEDES WINS IN BRAZIL

Not much details or footage are availalbe as of this writing, but according to TFN, ONE FC fighter and newly crowned URCC middlweight champion, Rodrigo Praxedes recently won by submission in Brazil. The BJJ Black Belt now has a 3-1 record in MMA. The Phuket Top Team product has also been calling out Phil Baroni for a ONE FC fight.

UPDATE: His camp informs us that the bout was a middleweight match at Porto Fighting Combat. He submitted Rafael Godoi by arm triangle in under a minute.

SUPER FIGHT LEAGUE CROWNS FIRST 4 CHAMPIONS

India's Super Fight League promotion crowned their first 4 champions on their last event of 2012 in SFL 13. Anup Kumar, Bharat Kandare, Rajinder Singh Meena, and Shyam Prasad all won their fights by submission to take home SFL's inaugural belts at Bantamweight, Featherweight, Lightweight and Welterweight respectively.

The promotion had weekly shows to end 2012, but has decided to switch things up and will host fewer, but higher quality cards in 2013.

JAKE SHIELDS TRAINING IN THAILAND

UFC contender and talented grappler, Jake Shields is currently in Thailand and is working on his stand up skills with some of the best Muay Thai fighters in the world. Here's a few photos of him training at Tiger Muay Thai:

FIGHT CARD - ONE FC 7: Return of Warriors
February 2, 2013 -- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

- Eric Kelly vs. Honorio Banario [ONE FC Featherweight Championship]
- Peter Davis vs. Leo Krishna

Malaysian Featherweight National Championship Tournament:
- Melvin Yeoh vs. Raymond Tiew
- AJ Lias Mansor vs. Jian Kai Chee

- Gianni Subba vs. Saiful Merican
- Adam Kayoom

FIGHT CARD: DREAM 18 - GLORY 4 NYE Special
December 31, 2012 -- Saitama Super Arena, Japan

MMA Rules:

- Bibiano Fernandes vs. Yoshiro Maeda [139 lbs catchweight]
- Shinya Aoki vs. Antonio McKee
- Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Michihiro Omigawa
- Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Georgi Karakhanyan
- Satoru Kitaoka vs. Will Brooks
- Melvin Manhoef vs. Denis Kang
- Phil Baroni vs. Hayato Sakurai

GLORY Grand Slam Tournament:

- Semmy Schilt vs. Brice Guidon
- Sergei Kharitonov vs. Rico Verhoeven
- Gokhan Saki vs. Raomoru
- Anderson "Braddock" Silva vs. Igor Jurkovic
- Remy Bonjasky Filip Verlinden
- Errol Zimmerman Jamal Ben Saddick
- Peter Aerts vs. Mourad Bouzidi
- Daniel Ghita vs. Jhonata Diniz

Kickboxing Super-Fights:

- Robin van Roosmalen vs. Yuichiro Nagashima
- Jerome Le Banner vs. Koichi Pettas
- Toshio Matsumoto vs. Jason Wilnis
- Mutsuki Ebata vs. San Che Kim