Kevin Indunan Belingon (born October 30, 1987) is a Filipino

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. He competed mostly with

ONE Championship ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...

, where he was the former ONE Bantamweight World Champion and

Universal Reality Combat Championship Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) is the first and only professional mixed martial arts promotion based in the Philippines. Its inaugural event was held at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater in Parañaque, Philippines on November 23, ...

(URCC) Flyweight Champion.

Early life and education

Belingon is of

Igorot The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, Philippines, often referred to by the exonym Igorot people, or more recently, as the Cordilleran peoples, are an ethnic group composed of nine main ethnolinguistic groups whose domains ...

descent and hails from Kiangan,

Ifugao Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao (; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela t ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. In his early childhood he idolized and admired movie icon

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

, which then inspired him to practice martial arts. Belingon pursued his passion in martial arts at the age of 17 and was eventually awarded a wushu scholarship to the University of the Cordilleras. He had success in wushu competition, becoming a Philippines national champion. After finishing college, Belingon stayed in

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. In

, he began training at

Team Lakay Wushu Team Lakay, is a martial arts group based in La Trinidad, Benguet, La Trinidad, Philippines. Officially named Lakay MMA Top Team, it is also known as Lakay Wushu or Lakay MMA. The group was founded in 2003 by mixed martial artist Marquez Sangiao. ...

, one of the best

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

stables in the

under famous Filipino coach

Mark Sangiao Marquez Tacio Sangiao (born March 25, 1979) professionally known as Mark Sangiao, is a Filipino martial arts coach and former professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. His students include fighters such as Mark Stephen Loman, Stephen ...

. Although he earned a bachelor's degree in

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

, he put his ambitions of pursuing a career in law enforcement on hold to focus full-time on being a professional

Martial Artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...

. He made his professional debut in 2007 and won his first nine bouts, capturing a flyweight title in the process after beating opponents from all across Asia. ONE Championship signed Belingon in 2012.

Mixed martial arts career

Universal Reality Combat Championship

On June 30, 2007, Kevin Belingon made his professional debut in

, at URCC 10. The event was held on June 30, 2007, at The Fort in

Taguig Taguig (), officially the City of Taguig (), is the List of cities in the Philippines, fifth-most populous city in the Philippines situated on the eastern shores of Metro Manila, the national capital region. It is a center for culture, finance ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

. Also on the fight card was Belingon's teammate and future ONE Championship world champion,

Eduard Folayang Eduard Ayangwa Folayang (born November 22, 1983) is a Filipino professional mixed martial artist and wushu practitioner who competes in the Lightweight division of ONE Championship, where he is a two-time ONE Lightweight World Ch ...

. The

warrior fought Richard Lasprilla for the URCC Flyweight Championship and won via

Majority Decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (at ...

in his first professional MMA fight.

Martial combat

After 5 fights exclusively in his home country

, Belingon entered the Singapore-based promotion Martial Combat in May 2010 in his first international fight against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Fighter Ngoo Ditty, and won via first round

TKO A technical knockout (TKO) is a professional fighting term. TKO may also refer to: Sports * TKO, the name of a professional wrestling move referring to either the cutter or stunner variant * TKO Group Holdings, a combat sports company Music Ar ...

Legend Fighting Championship

More than a month, after his fight in Martial Combat Promotions, he fought under the banner of Legend Fighting Championship MMA Promotions based in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Winning against Nam Jin Jo of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

via

Unanimous Decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

in June 2010 and Dalai Bayin of

in round 1

Submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

in September 2010.

Returning to the URCC

After his international fights in Hong Kong and Singapore, "The Silencer" returned home to compete at URCC 19: Collision in

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...

on April 2, 2011, against fellow Filipino Isaac Tulinng. A head kick and combination of punches forced the referee to stop the contest, awarding Belingon the win via TKO.

ONE Championship

Belingon made his debut in the promotion against

Masakazu Imanari is a Japanese mixed martial artist and submission wrestler. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division of Rizin Fighting Federation. A professional competitor since 2000, he is a veteran of ONE Championship, DEEP, ZST, Pancrase, PRIDE F ...

at ONE Fighting Championship: War of the Lions March 2012. He submitted Belingon in the opening round via heel hook. Belingon also lost his next bout by unanimous decision against Korean Soo Chul Kim, who went on to become the inaugural ONE Bantamweight World Champion two months later. After back-to-back defeats, Belingon entered the ONE Bantamweight Grand Prix Tournament and won back-to-back stoppages against Yusup Saadulaev, and Thanh Vu of Australia. He eventually lost against Masakatsu Ueda in the final round of ONE Bantamweight Grand Prix. In January 2016, after a win against Koetsu Okazaki, he got the opportunity to challenge for the title against the champion, Bibiano Fernandes. He lost this title fight via Kimura in the first round. His next victory came over Muin Gafurov in October 2016. Belingon followed it up with a pair of first round stoppages of former title contenders Toni Tauru, and Reece McLaren in 2017, before ending the year with a unanimous decision win against Kevin Chung. On 20 April 2018, in the main event of ONE Championship: Heroes of Honor, Belingon faced off with another former title challenger Andrew Leone. Belingon dominated the first round until a spinning side-kick to the liver sent Leone to the canvas. The Filipino finished the fight with ground and pound. On July 27, 2018, at ONE Championship: Reign of Kings, Belingon faced two-division

title holder, Martin Nguyen. He defeated the

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

by unanimous decision and became the

Interim Bantamweight Champion. Belingon faced reigning bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes at ONE Championship 78: Heart of the Lion on November 9, 2018, in a title unification bout and a rematch of their previous battle in 2016. Belingon won the fight via split decision to become the undisputed bantamweight champion, handing Fernandes his first loss in 8 years and ending the promotion's longest ever championship reign. Belingon faced Fernandes in a trilogy match at ONE Championship: A New Era on March 30, 2019. The match ended with Belingon losing the bantamweight title via disqualification after landing an illegal elbow to the back of Fernandes' head. Belingon faced Fernandes for the fourth time at ONE Championship: Century on October 13, 2019. He lost the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the second round. Belingon then faced John Lineker at ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix 3 on November 13, 2020. He lost the fight via second-round knockout. Belingon faced Kwon Won Il at ONE: Winter Warriors II on December 17, 2021. He lost the bout via liver shot in the second round. Belingon faced Kim Jae-woong on November 19, 2022, at

ONE on Prime Video 4 ''ONE on Prime Video 4: Abbasov vs. Lee'' (also known as ''ONE Fight Night 4'') was a Combat sport event produced by ONE Championship that took place on November 19, 2022 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Background The or ...

. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round. After a two-years hiatus, Belingon faced Bibiano Fernandes on February 20, 2025, at ONE 171. He lost the fight via split decision.

Personal life

Belingon and his wife have a daughter, Kelsey (born 2020).

Championships and accomplishments

** ONE Bantamweight World Championship (one time; former) **Interim ONE Bantamweight World Championship (one time; former) *

**URCC Flyweight Champion (one time; former)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 20-11 , Bibiano Fernandes , Decision (split) , ONE 171 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Lusail Lusail (, , ) is the second-largest city in Qatar after Doha, and the economic capital of Qatar, located on the coast, in the southern part of the municipality of Al Daayen. Lusail lies about north of the Doha city centre, just north of the West ...

, Qatar , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–10 , Kim Jae-woong , TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:33 ,

Kallang Kallang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential zone located in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the l ...

, Singapore , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–9 , Kwon Won-il , KO (punch to the body) , ONE: Winter Warriors II , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:52 ,

, Singapore , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–8 , John Lineker , TKO (punches) , ONE: Inside the Matrix 3 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:16 ,

, Singapore , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–7 , Bibiano Fernandes , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ONE: Century – Part 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:16 ,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–6 , Bibiano Fernandes , DQ (illegal elbows) , ONE: A New Era , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:40 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 20–5 , Bibiano Fernandes , Decision (split) , ONE: Heart of the Lion , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 19–5 , Martin Nguyen , Decision (unanimous) , ONE: Reign of Kings , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 18–5 , Andrew Leone , TKO (spinning back kick and punches) , ONE: Heroes of Honor , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:27 ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 17–5 , Kevin Chung , Decision (unanimous) , ONE: Legends of the World , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 16–5 , Reece McLaren , KO (punches) , ONE: Quest for Greatness , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:02 ,

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia , , - , Win , align=center, 15–5 , Toni Tauru , TKO (submission to punches) , ONE: Kings of Dynasty , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:27 ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 14–5 , Muin Gafurov , Decision (unanimous) , ONE: Clash of Heroes , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

, Myanmar , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–5 , Bibiano Fernandes , Submission (kimura) , ONE: Dynasty of Champion 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:04 ,

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

, China , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 , Koetsu Okazaki , Decision (unanimous) , ONE FC: Warrior's Way , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Philippines , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 , Kim Dae-hwan , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ONE FC: War of Nations , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:39 ,

, Malaysia , , - , Win , align=center, 12–3 , David Aranda Santacana , KO (punches) , ONE FC: Moment of Truth , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:53 ,

, Philippines , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–3 , Masakatsu Ueda , Decision (unanimous) , ONE FC: Rise to Power , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 , Thanh Vu , TKO (punches) , ONE FC: Kings and Champions , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:00 ,

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Yusup Saadulaev , TKO (punches) , ONE FC: Rise of Kings , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:18 ,

, Singapore , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 , Kim Soo-chul , Decision (unanimous) , ONE FC: Pride of Nation , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

, Philippines , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–1 ,

, Submission (reverse heel hook) , ONE FC: War of Lions , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:18 ,

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Isaac Tuling , TKO (head kick and punches) , URCC 19 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 6:25 ,

Sentosa Sentosa Island ( ), known mononymously as Sentosa, is an island located off the southern coast of Singapore's main island. The island is separated from the main island of Singapore by a channel of water, the Keppel Harbour, and is adjacent to ...

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Dalai Bayin , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Legend FC 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:40 ,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, SAR, China , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Jo Nam-jin , Decision (unanimous) , Legend FC 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, SAR, China , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Ngoo Ditty , TKO (punches) , Martial Combat 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:08 ,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Jilmar Tangayan , Decision (unanimous) , URCC-Rogue Magazine's Black The Brawl 2009 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 10:00 ,

Makati Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Justin Cruz , Decision (unanimous) , URCC 13 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 10:00 ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Magellan Perez , TKO (punches) , URCC 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:15 ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Roldan Cartajena , Submission (armbar) , URCC 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 8:42 ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Richard Lasprilla , Decision (majority) , URCC 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 7:24 ,

, Philippines ,

References

External links

Kevin Belingon
at

ONE 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belingon, Kevin 1987 births Living people Filipino male mixed martial artists Filipino sanshou practitioners Flyweight mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing sanshou Mixed martial artists utilizing Dumog University of the Cordilleras alumni People from Ifugao ONE Championship champions ONE Championship mixed martial artists 21st-century Filipino sportsmen Igorot people