FILE – Rene Catalan. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–Rene Catalan and former ONE strawweight champion Alex Silva are set to take each other on for the second time around after nearly a decade.
Catalan will look to avenge his loss in his professional debut against Silva in ONE: NextGen III that will air on November 26 from Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The two first met in April 2013.
Silva is coming off a unanimous decision win against Miao Li Tao in August while Catalan is coming off back-to-back defeats against no.2-ranked Bokang Masunyane in December 2020 and current strawweight king Joshua Pacio in November 219.
The 42-year-old Catalan (6-4) had a miserable start to his professional career absorbing two losses and one no contest but picked up steam starting 2016 when he tallied six straight wins until his second round submission loss to Pacio.
A win over Silva, the no.4-ranked strawweight, could help Catalan’s case to carve another path to the title but Little Rock is also keen on getting back to championship contention.
Silva (10-6) dominated Miao in his previous matchup and he not only holds a win over Catalan but also against the Filipino’s brothers Robin and Ruel.
The Brazilian’s submission wins over the Catalan brothers also came in successive fashion as he first submitted Rene, then Ruel, and finally Robin from 2013 to 2016.
Team Lakay’s Lito Adiwang, the no.5 strawweight in the promotion, headlines the NextGen III card as he takes on UFC veteran Jared Brooks.