Injury Modifies Main Event of Inaugural One FC Card

A Sol Kwon (right) has stepped into the main event of One FC’s “Champion vs. Champion.” | Photo: Taro Irei

Promotion officials Wednesday announced that Laursen “seriously injured his knee during training” and will be replaced by South Korea’s A Sol Kwon in the show’s lightweight main event.

The Folayang-Kwon matchup tops the card of “Champion vs. Champion,” which takes place Sept. 3 at Singapore Indoor Stadium. Co-headlined by a clash of UFC veterans Phil Baroni and Yoshiyuki Yoshida, the event will stream live and free of charge on Sherdog.com.

Since returning from a 15-month hiatus in January 2010, Kwon has competed at a breakneck pace, emerging victorious from nine of 11 outings. Both of those losses came at welterweight and one, a split decision against ex-Shootor Yoshitaro Niimi, was avenged in March when the 26-year-old Korean knocked Niimi cold to capture the 170-pound title of Osaka, Japan’s Heat promotion.

In June, Kwon recorded wins over Japanese vets Yukinari Tamura and Yoshihiro Tomioka only weeks apart. He was slated to meet countryman Yui Chul Nam on the July card from South Korea’s Road Fighting Championship, but withdrew due to a hand injury only days before the bout.

Once-beaten Folayang, also 26, is widely regarded as the Philippines’ top MMA prospect and currently holds the welterweight title of Filipino promotion Universal Reality Combat Championship. He enters his bout with Kwon on a four-fight winning streak, including three in the cage of One FC predecessor Martial Combat. The wushu practitioner was last seen in October outpointing muay Thai champion Vuyisile Colossa.