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| Shinya Aoki fights in the Philippines again, but this time as a pro wrestler. ONE Championship (file photo) |
MANILA—One of Japan's greatest mixed martial artists is returning to the Philippines.
However, he is not fighting inside an octagon or ONE Championship's trademark cylindrical cage.
Shinya Aoki, arguably the gold standard among Japan's fighters under ONE, makes a trip back to his longtime rival Eduard Folayang's home country, but not as an MMA pugilist.
Instead, he will try his luck again in professional wrestling, battling one of the Philippines' top stars inside the squared circle in Fabio Makisig.
As announced on Monday night, Dexcon, one of the prevalent pro wrestling promotions right now, will have Aoki taking on Makisig in a featured match at WrestleStorm 3 on March 15 at Brawl Pit Bulusan in Quezon City.
Probably unknown to many, the former two-time ONE lightweight champion has actually juggled his time between the unscripted and scripted battles since 2013, winning the DDT Extreme Championship three times.
Aoki was even given the Technique Award in the 2024 Tokyo Sports Poruresu Awards.
Dexcon, which has a longtime partnership with Makisig and the rest of the Puso Wrestling talents, dating back to their days in MWF, said that ticket selling for WrestleStorm 3 will begin on Feb. 15, right during its Fast Break show also at Brawl Pit Bulusan.
Fast Break will also have some international wrestlers performing, like Shivam, who is booked in a Fatal Four-Way bout against Robin Sane, Joey Rosas, and Isaiah Valencia for the IWA Japan Setup World Heavyweight Championship.
The biggest draw, though, would be former WWE superstar Brian Kendrick, who will challenge Jake De Leon for the Dexcon World Championship in the main event.
Unsold WrestleStorm 3 tickets from Fast Break will be made available to the public starting on Feb. 18.
