Geje Eustaquio back on track. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Former ONE World flyweight champion Geje Eustaquio got back on the winning track after stopping Toni Tauru with a vicious spinning heel kick in the third round of their flyweight bout in ONE: Masters of Fate Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Eustaquio (13-8) controlled the last two rounds and capped it all off with a beautiful spinning heel kick that landed straight at the midsection of Tauru (11-8-1) sending the Finnish down and prompting the referee to stop the bout 2:11 into the third.
“I was inspired by Kevin [Belingon] and his spinning back kick and we kep t on repeating that in the gym,” said Eustaquio who lost his last fight against Yuya Wakamatsu. “We tried it a thousand times.”
Eustaquio, who thanked his Team Lakay stablemates, also dedicated the fight and the win to the earthquake victims in Mindanao.
Tauru had control earlier in the bout and nearly locked Eustaquio in different submission holds before the Filipino got out of it and brought the fight back to their feet.
It was in the second round that Eustaquio ultimately dictated the pace using his striking to dominate Tauru, who’s four inches taller than the 5-foot-6 Filipino.
Stamp Fairtex secured her third straight mixed martial arts win after taking a unanimous decision over Bi Nguyen in the atomweight division.
Fairtex, the women’s Muay Thai and Kickboxing atomweight champion, was a whirling derby of strikes keeping Nguyen (5-5) at bay in every possible way.
With two belts under her name, Fairtex (3-0) said she’ll focus solely on MMA and aim for that third title the—ONE World atomweight championship that Angela Lee holds.
“Now I want to focus on MMA and get that third belt,” said Fairtex.
China’s Li Kai Wen opened up the main card with a vicious knockout win over Indonesia’s Paul Lumihi in the bantamweight division.
Li (11-4) punished Lumihi (7-5) with multiple knee strikes in the clinch and closed it out with a cracking right uppercut that put the Indonesian to sleep 2:39 into the first round
This was Li’s fourth straight win while Lumihi slipped to his fourth straight loss.
Yoshitaka Naito of Japan earned a unanimous decision win over Thailand’s Mitsatit in a grappling masterclass in the strawweight division to close out the preliminary card.
Naito (15-3) chalked up his second straight win following up his unanimous decision win over Alex Siva in May.
Mitsatit (10-4), meanwhile, dropped his second consecutive match and has lost four of his last five fights.
Thailand’s Kongsak Pk. Saengchai Muay Thai Gym earned a unanimous decision win over China’s Han Zi Hao in the bantamweight division (Muay Thai) in the ONE Super Series.
Kongsak was methodical in his approach keeping Han at bay with stiff kicks to maintain his dominance throughout the fight.