Filipino fighters go 1-1 in ONE China card

Robin Catalan. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Filipino fighters split their matchups in ONE Championship: Battle for the Heavens at Guangzhou Tianhe Gymnasium in China on Saturday.

Robin Catalan (8-3) of Catalan Fighting System submitted Indonesia’s Adrian Matheis (with a heel hook two minutes and 10 seconds into the second round to earn his second straight win and third victory in four fights.

Team Lakay’s Gina Iniong, however, didn’t get the result she wanted after losing to Brazil’s Istela Nunes via unanimous decision.

Iniong (7-4) has hit a bit of a slump, droppping her second fight in three outings after establishing a three-bout winning streak.

In the main event, Taiwan’s Kai Ting Chuang put on a counter-attacking lesson against Yodcherry Sityodtong to take the ONE Super Series Kickboxing World atomweight title after her unanimous decision win.

Chuang continually slipped through Sityodtong’s right hands and roundhouse kicks and countered with boxing combinations throughout the whole five rounds.

“I went over this match with my coaches, and we came up with a great game plan which worked out perfectly,” said Chuang. “Thank you for all the fans who supported me, and especially my team who helped me in preparing for this match.”

In the co-main event, Filipino-Australian Reece McLaren took a close split decision win against Japan’s Tatsumitsu Wada for his third straight victory while making a case for a title shot at Geje Eustaquio’s flyweight title.

McLaren (12-5) also stopped Wada’s eight-fight winning streak as the Japanese dropped to a 19-9 record.

Moroccan kickboxer Ibrahim El Bouni made a strong debut in the ONE Super Series knocking out Australia’s Andre Meunier 1:31 into the first round.

El Bouni was able to dodge Meunier’s attacks and slip in a thundering hook to drop the Australian.

Although Meunier was able to beat the 10-count, this only opened up further opportunities for El Bouni to launch another blitzkrieg and score the decisive knockdown.

In a matchup of ONE Championship debutantes, China’s Fu Chang Xin (7-1) scored an impressive first round technical knockout against Kazakhstan’s Rustem Yensebayev (1-8) 4:32 into the fight.

In another Super Series fight this, Muay Thai artists Saemapetch Fairtex and Deividas Danyla battled through three rounds with the former getting the unanimous decision win.

After losing in his previous fight, China’s Zha Zhi Kang (11-3) went back to winning form and submitted compatriot, and ONE debutante, Ma Xu Dong (1-1) with a guillotine choke 1:08 into the third round.

Japan’s Shuya Kamikubo (8-1) made an impressive ONE Championship debut overpowering Indonesia’s Sunto Peringkat (9-4) with ground strikes to take a TKO victory 3:54 into the second round.

China’s Peng Xue Wen (2-3) stopped his two-fight skid and made quick work of Indonesia’s Eddey Kalai (0-4) taking a TKO win 57 seconds into the fight.