ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben “Funky” Askren would like nothing more than to return to the cage and do what he does best and that’s to get in, dominate, and get out. The 31-year old former NCAA Division I wrestler from Arizona has been out of competition for nearly a year, but the good news is, he’s about a month away from climbing back in.

Askren (14-0) will face Russia’s Nikolay Aleksakhin (17-3) in a five round welterweight bout for Askren’s title. The bout will headline ONE Championship’s first event in Manila this year, called ONE: GLOBAL RIVALS.

Last April 2015, Askren battled hulkish Brazilian foe Luis “Sapo” Santos to a No Contest ruling after Santos deemed himself unable to continue after an inadvertent eye poke. A highly-anticipated rematch was scheduled months later in Singapore, only to have Santos miss weight and the bout cancelled at the eleventh hour.

In the first bout, Santos used his indomitable size and strength to throw Askren around like a ragdoll, manhandling him like never before seen in his career. Inevitably however, Santos began to fade and it started to look like Askren was about to take over — and then the bout was cut short and the rest was history.