Professional mixed martial artist John McLeary Ornido, 20, of the Philippines will compete in a bokator (ល្បុក្កតោ) tournament in Phnom Penh, Cambodia before the year ends. It is the second event of Neak Leng Kun, which promotes Khmer martial arts.
Also called Kun Lbokator and Kun Bokator, bokator is one of the oldest fighting systems existing in the world. In 2022, it was inscribed on the representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The inaugural Neak Leng Kun event was held in Cambodia from September 2-3, 2023. Aside from the host country, Spain, Vietnam and Uzbekistan were also represented.
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam will be represented in the second Neak Leng Kun event at Olympic National Stadium in Phnom Penh on December 16, 2023. In the main event, Ornido will face hometown fighter Chan Rothana, 37.
Chan Rothana
On July 19, 2014, Rothana made his professional MMA debut in a Bayon Khmer MMA event. On September 12, 2014, he made his debut in ONE Championship, a martial arts organization based in Singapore.
Rothana defeated Indonesia’s Abrou Fernandes and Rudy Agustian at “ONE: Destiny of Champions” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 7, 2018 and at “ONE: For Honor” in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 3, 2019, respectively, both via technical knockout. On August 16, 2019, the Cambodian MMA fighter defeated Gustavo Balart of Cuba via unanimous decision at “ONE: Dreams of Gold” in Bangkok, Thailand.
On December 18, 2020, Rothana lost to Wei Xie of China via technical knockout at “ONE: Collision Course” in Kallang, Singapore. On March 11, 2022, Eko Roni Saputra of Indonesia submitted Rothana via rear-naked choke at “ONE: Lights Out” in Kallang.
Losing to Saputra downgraded Rothana’s professional MMA record to 7 wins and 5 losses. After the loss, Rothana has yet to compete again in MMA.
John McLeary Ornido
All of Ornido’s first three professional MMA opponents are Filipinos. On June 2, 2022, he made his professional MMA debut in an Underground Battle event in Legazpi, Albay, Philippines where he defeated Crispin Rabanera via unanimous decision.
Ornido was one of the 16 contestants of ONE Championship’s “ONE Warrior Series: Philippines”, which premiered on GTV and on the ONE Super App on September 18, 2022. On October 27, 2022, he defeated Janedie Bernardo via technical knockout in an Ultimate Reality Combat Championship event in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines.
On November 26, 2022, Ornido defeated Marlon Caingat via technical knockout in a Warriors Fight Promotion event in Daet, Camarines Norte, Philippines. On January 22, 2023, Ornido fought Kunihisa Sasa of Japan in a GLADIATOR event in Osaka, Japan and it ended in a No Contest due to a low blow.
On July 4, 2023, Ornido lost to Marwin Quirante via unanimous decision at “URCC 86” in Taguig. On November 25, 2023, he defeated Jesse Bucog via technical knockout at “TNT Kickboxing 2” at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Metro Manila.
CONAN Daily 