Rising Igorot mixed martial arts fighter Dave “Kintas” Bangguigui hopes to unleash yet another stellar performance when he fights in the ONE Warrior Series in Singapore, Feb. 19.
The 24-year-old Bangguigui, who fights out of Fight Corps MMA in Baguio, will have a new opponent in Filipino fighter Genil Francisco in the strawweight bout.
Bangguigui was supposed to fight Ayush Ariungerel of Mongolia but the latter was injured in training.
OWS has tapped the much older and taller Francisco as a replacement fighter which the Filipino fighter accepted.
The Bauko, Mountain Province native has nailed two impressive victories in the OWS last year.
In his OWS debut, Bangguigui stopped Susovan Ghosh of India via powerful punches in round two of their three-round bout in June 2019.
He likewise stopped Albert Correia Da Silva of Brazil via rear-naked choke in their strawweight bout two months later.
Bangguigui is one of the promising MMA fighters from the Philippines who have the potential to be picked to join the ONE main roster, the biggest MMA promotion industry in Asia.
The OWS is a travel series talent search, which aims to discover new martial arts talents across Asia, providing promising young athletes with the platform to unleash their martial arts greatness.
The most impressive performers had the potential to get slots to compete in professional bouts such as the ONE Championship and could earn a contract worth $100,000.
The Igorot fighter has not been defeated in his professional MMA bouts since 2016.
His fight records show that he only suffered defeat in his first professional bout in 2015 against Filipino fighter Jefrain Odallo.
He bounced back strong when he fought under the Pacific Xtreme Combat and won against Paul Canol. He also defeated Team Lakay’s Estrada Dongga-as via split decision in 2016.
Bangguigui has nailed nine straight victories in the past three years. – Harley F. Palangchao
April 26, 2024
