Kwon Won Il Returns On Short Notice To Face Eric Kelly

“Pretty Boy” Kwon Won Il is set to make to make his third ONE Championship appearance in as many months when he faces Eric “The Natural” Kelly at ONE: ROOTS OF HONOR.

The rising South Korean superstar will meet the Filipino veteran in a featherweight contest at the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines next Friday, 12 April.

Kwon entered the world’s largest martial arts organization riding a perfect 7-0 start to his career, and he made an immediate impression in his new home at ONE: ETERNAL GLORY in January.

The 23-year-old needed just 67 seconds to knock Anthony “The Archangel” Engelen down, and then finish him on his ONE debut in Jakarta, Indonesia.

For his next match, the Extreme Combat and Top Gym BF representative took a bantamweight match-up with Masakazu Imanari, but he will change divisions again after taking this contest on less than two weeks’ notice.

Kelly is a veteran of the Home Of Martial Arts. The Baguio City native was part of the organization’s first ever show, and he also competed for the inaugural ONE Featherweight World Title.

The submission specialist has scored 10 of his 12 career wins via stoppage, including nine via tapout.

The main event of ONE: ROOTS OF HONOR will see Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen defend his ONE Featherweight World Title against Narantungalag “Tungaa” Jadambaa. In the co-main event, ONE Strawweight World Champion Yosuke “The Ninja” Saruta will face Joshua “The Passion” Pacio in a rematch of their close contest in January.