Ana Julaton has been training extensively for over a year (Photo : Angelo Reyes)
Former female boxing world champion, Ana "Hurricane" Julaton (Boxing: 14-4-1, 2 KO's) (MMA: 2-1) has been quietly waiting in the wings following her last stint in the mixed martial arts cage. She was last seen winning by decision against Wala Abbas at ONE: Warrior's Way last December, in front of her hometown crowd in Manila, Philippines.
The Filipina-American went to great lengths to get the best training team possible, and has enlisted the aid of world-renowned wrestling and grappling coach, Ricky Lundell, to help her reach her full potential.
She has steadily been improving her ground game since then under the watchful guidance of the new coach and cannot wait to show fight fans just how much she has learned in training.
Aside from Lundell, Julaton has continued to work with her long-time boxing and striking coach, Angelo Reyes, and has made strides to improve her overall MMA game since making the transition to the sport early last year.
Julaton finally gets her chance to showcase her wares in front of her passionate Filipino fan base against Russian kickboxer Irina Mazepa.
Irina Mazepa of St. Petersburg, Russia is a former kickboxing world champion who is just fresh off defeating the highly-regarded Ann "Athena" Osman in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month at ONE: Tigers of Asia.
Mazepa stopped Osman via TKO in the very first round of her ONE Championship debut, shocking Osman's hometown crowd.
The matchup should not disappoint in the action department, as both female fighters are adept at striking and will want to test each other out by unloading a plethora of bombs against each other.
While Julaton is dangerous with the hands, it is also the same with Mazepa as she brings the Muay Thai skill set into the mix.
Filipino mixed martial arts superstars Mark Striegl and Ruel Catalan also return to the ONE Cage to electrify Filipino fight fans who are expected to pack the rafters. This is in addition to the highly-anticipated showdown between Brandon "The Truth" Vera and Chi Lewis "Chopper" Parry who will compete for the inaugural ONE Heavyweight World Championship.
ONE Championship always puts on a great show in Manila, moreso in their annual year-ender. Fans can expect the Mall of Asia Arena to be filled with electrifying chants for their hometown heroes.
"Each year in Manila, we try to outdo ourselves by putting on increasingly exciting fight cards for passionate fight fans in the Philippines," said CEO of ONE Championship, Victor Cui.
Cui has stayed true to his word with the build-up to one of the most anticipated events of the year.
