Kevin Belingon reveals prior rib injury bothered him in loss to Kwon Won Il at ONE: Winter Warriors II

Kevin Belingon hit a tough stretch in his career and was hoping to end the year with a win. However, South Korean striking wizard Kwon Won Il had other plans.

In the co-main event of ONE: Winter Warriors II, which aired Friday, December 17, Kevin Belingon succumbed to a spectacular liver shot by Kwon ‘Pretty Boy’ Won Il in what was perhaps the biggest win of the South Korean’s ONE Championship career so far.

During the post-fight interview with ONE Championship, Team Lakay veteran Belingon revealed that he wasn’t bothered too much by the glaring height and reach advantage his opponent offered, but rather, he was slowed down by an injury he suffered during his training camp.

“Eight weeks before my fight, I had a rib injury. I needed to rest for two weeks and went back to training, but I had to be cautious. During the first round, I think his [Kwon] second push kick hit my ris, and he followed it up with another, so I wasn’t as quick as I usually am and got tagged with an uppercut.”

Kwon Won Il forced Kevin Belingon to backpedal right from the start of the match, but the Filipino was able to connect on some shots late in the first round. It was more of the same in the second round, with Kwon chasing Kevin Belingon across the Circle.

During their final exchange, ‘Pretty Boy’ dropped a masterful left hook to the side of Kevin Belingon’s body that caused the 34-year-old to crumble to the canvas in agony. The referee immediately put a stop to the contest, much to the delight of an emotional Kwon.

Kevin Belingon knew that he wasn’t going to be able to get up from that final liver shot.

“If I didn’t have the injury, I might have been able to take the hit. However, it’s not an excuse because I trained as hard as I could. Personally, I thought I had fully recovered from my injury, but when I got hit there, I felt the pain. I didn’t expect that I would feel that way.”

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Kevin Belingon is looking to carry lessons learned from setbacks

Despite the promising debuts of their juniors Jhanlo Sangiao and Stephen Loman, Kevin Belingon couldn’t ride the momentum to notch his first win since 2018.

However, ‘The Silencer’ is far from done and hopes to find ways to get back to training and fill the holes in his game.

“I need to review my previous fights because the results haven’t favored me. I need to know where I went wrong and where I lacked. Of course, I also need to improve my weaknesses and learn what needs to be learned in order to improve my overall skills. My confidence is still there, the fire still burns.”