"Sapo" joins Askren fight card, battles Colossa

Ben Askren, left, and Luis Santos will be fighting on the same night. One Championship (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Ben Askren and Luis Santos will both be in a single One Championship fight card.

As announced on Monday, the Brazilian fighter known as "Sapo" will be part of One: Dynasty of Heroes, where a fight involving Askren was initially announced as the co-main event of the said card, on May 26 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Santos battles South African veteran Vuyisile Colossa, who will be making his first fight at the said promotion since 2013.

Askren and even Agilan Thani will be the keen spectators of the said match as the winner of the bout could possibly eye a world title shot against the winner of the Askren-Thani showdown for the One welterweight belt later in the night.

Drama have surrounded the rivalry between Askren and Santos dating back to April 24, 2015 when the former accidentally poked the latter in their clash for the said championship at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay that led to the said match being declared a no-contest.

[Related Story: Ugly ending in One Championship: Valor of Champions as Askren-Santos match declared no contest]

Months later in Singapore, their supposed rematch was canceled as Santos failed to make weight during the official weigh-in.

[Related Story: Askren-Santos 2 called off as "Sapo" goes overweight, new offer declined]

Both camps exchanged finger pointing on who was to blame for the cancellation of the match.

[Related Stories: Video: Askren hits out at Santos, apologizes to fans | Santos denies Askren's public statement about cancellation of title fight]

Santos would stay with One and eventually won two straight matches last year.

Meanwhile, a Filipina fighter will also be in One: Dynasty of Heroes.

Jomary Torres will be making her debut at One Championship against rising Thai-Japanese star Rika Ishige.

Torres only has one other fight to her record, a unanimous decision victory over Krisna Lindaga in a special MMA event organized by URCC last year.

With the Torres-Ishige fight, the main event pitting Angela Lee and Istela Nunes, and another announced showdown between Tiffany Teo and Rebecca Heintzman, One: Dynasty of Heroes will have three women's fights, a rare occurrence in an event by a major MMA outfit.

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