Mark Striegl to make ONE FC debut in Manila on April 24

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American fighter Mark Striegl will make his promotional debut under the ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) banner on April 24 as he is booked to face undefeated prospect Casey Suire on the undercard of ONE FC: Valor of Champions.

The 26-year-old Striegl directed his career-path to Asia’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) organization by inking an exclusive contract this past December.

Striegl established himself as one of the top Pinoy MMA stalwarts with stellar stints in different promotions across the Asian region such as Pacific Xtreme Combat (PXC), Legend FC and Ultimate Reality Combat Championship, to name a few.

The 5-foot-8 “Mugen” holds an impressive prizefighting record of 13-1, with 11 wins coming by way of submission.

In addition, he owns noteworthy triumphs over the likes of Crisanto Pitpitunge, Yusuke Kawanago, Ev Ting and Harris Sarmiento.

Striegl tasted the lone loss of his professional MMA run when he squared off with Jang Yong Kim for the vacant PXC featherweight title in September 2013.

In the aforementioned encounter with the gritty Korean, Kim fastened a Kimura lock and then applied a leg-scissor choke to compel Striegl to tap in the third round.

During that period, Striegl was highly touted to be following the footsteps of PXC standouts such as Jon Tuck, Hyun Gyu Lim, Dustin Kimura, Louis Smolka and Michinori Tanaka in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but the disappointing setback to Kim derailed his opportunity to enter the world’s premier MMA company.

Thirteen months later, Striegl placed himself back on the winning track by submitting Kaiwhare Kara-France with a first-round rear-naked choke in the co-headliner of Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts (MIMMA) 2 grand finals last October.

On the other hand, Suire (5-0) has compiled five-straight wins via stoppage since having his professional MMA debut in May 2011.

The 5-foot-6 American was last seen in action when he submitted Stephen Langdown with a first-round rear-naked choke at ONE FC: Honor & Glory in May 2014.

Aside from the Striegl-Suire bout, ONE FC officials also slated a three-round flyweight contest between Filipino combatant Eugene Toquero (5-1) and Indonesia’s Brianata Rosadhi (1-1).

ONE FC: Valor of Champions, which takes place at the 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, is headlined by a welterweight championship clash between current titleholder Ben Askren and Luis Santos. – Rappler.com