Brazilian veteran Luís Sapo challenges undefeated Ben Askren for ONE FC belt

B. Askren (left) and L. Sapo (right) face each other in April. Photo: Production SUPER LUTAS (Disclosure/Reproduction)

With almost 15 years of experience and an impressive record of more than 71 professional fights, Brazilian veteran Luís Sapo will face the most important fight of his career. On April 24th, in Manilla (Philippines), Sapo will challenge the undefeated Ben Askren for the ONE FC welterweight category belt, the most important event in Asian MMA today.

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At 35 years old, Sapo has a professional record of 61 wins, nine losses and one draw. Having played in events such as Bellator and XFC, the man from Pará has won seven consecutive victories – the last of which was over Bakhtiyar Abbasov, already as an ONE FC athlete, in the fight that qualified him as the number one contender for the title in the under-77 kg category. .

Ben Askren, 30 years old, won the 14 fights he had as a professional. O wrestler of the first division of the NCAA (North American college league) was Bellator welterweight champion, but gave up his title in 2013 to move to ONE FC. After beating Bakhtiyar Abbasov in his debut at the Asian event, Askren won the belt by beating Japanese Nobutatsu Suzuki in August last year.

If Ben Askren wins, in addition to taking away the unbeaten record of the American, considered one of the best welterweights outside the UFC today, Luís Sapo could join two other Brazilian athletes who currently make up the list of ONE FC champions: Bibiano Fernandes, in bantamweights, and Adriano Moraes, in the flyweights.