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MMA: American fighter vows to finish Fil-Kiwi Mark Abelardo

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/sports/03/04/emilio-urrutia.jpg"/><figcaption>American fighter Emilio &quot;The Honey Badger&quot; Urrutia. <em>Handout photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA, Philippines -- American fighter Emilio &quot;The Honey Badger&quot; Urrutia is the picture of confidence ahead of his return to the ONE Circle.</p><p>The American will face Filipino-Kiwi Mark &quot;Tyson&quot; Abelardo in a three-round bantamweight bout at ONE: Fists of Fury II, a previously recorded event from the Singapore Indoor Stadium that will air on Friday, March 5.</p><p>Urrutia has studied Abelardo&#x27;s style and is confident he can take care of business against his hard-hitting opponent.</p><p>&quot;I haven&#x27;t watched his fights for this training camp, but I&#x27;ve known about him for a long time,&quot; he said. &quot;We&#x27;ve fought on all the same shows, so it was just a matter of time. I feel like this fight is a long time coming, and we were going to meet up with each other. It&#x27;s good that it&#x27;s happening now.&quot; </p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m pretty familiar with his style. He&#x27;s a Muay Thai-based striker, and he&#x27;s very well-rounded, a very tough opponent with a very strong skill set,&quot; he added. </p><p>&quot;He&#x27;s very durable, so if the fight needs to go 15 minutes, I&#x27;m ready to beat him up for as long as I have to.&quot;</p><p>But Urrutia is confident that the fight won&#x27;t last the distance. The American, who is fighting for the first time since February 2019, said he is in a terrific physical and mental space and is ready to put on a show in his return.</p><p>&quot;Right now, I feel like I&#x27;m in the best place I&#x27;ve been in a long time,&quot; he declared.</p><p>&quot;I wouldn&#x27;t be surprised if I get a first round finish. I&#x27;m going to finish him. I want to submit him. I want to do everything I can to put him on his back and get a submission victory,&quot; Urrutia said.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m going to punch him in the face, take him down, and submit him, then take my win bonus straight back to the hotel.&quot;</p><p>The 34-year-old American will bring a three-fight losing streak against Abelardo. According to Urrutia, he dealt with lingering injuries that kept him largely inactive. That, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, threw a wrench into his plans.</p><p>Now fighting at bantamweight and training in his new gym at Bangkok Fight Lab in Thailand, Urrutia has his sights set on a much-needed victory against Abelardo.</p><p>He made it clear that he has nothing but respect for the Fil-Kiwi fighter even as he targets a show-stopping victory.</p><p>&quot;He (Abelardo) is good and I respect him. We&#x27;re kind of like the same guy. He&#x27;s a foreigner living in Asia, traveling and training and competing across the world, and I&#x27;m doing the same thing,&quot; said Urrutia.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re just similar people, but we both want the same thing [in this fight]. So it&#x27;s got to be me,&quot; he vowed.</p><p>ONE: Fists of Fury II is headlined by the showdown between highly-regarded ONE Championship newcomer Amir Aliakbari and Korean KO artist Kang Ji Won. Also seeing action in the co-main event is undefeated Russian Anatoly &quot;Spartak&quot; Malykhin who faces Brazil&#x27;s Alexandre &quot;Bebezao&quot; Machado.</p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U1ehoLLHkuU?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>American fighter Emilio "The Honey Badger" Urrutia is the picture of confidence ahead of his return to the ONE Circle.</p>

American fighter Emilio "The Honey Badger" Urrutia is the picture of confidence ahead of his return to the ONE Circle.