TEAM Lakay’s Geje Eustaquio avenged his 2014 loss to Adriano Moraes at ONE: Pinnacle of Power Saturday evening at the Studio City Events Center in Macau, China, defeating the Brazilian grappling ace to become the new undisputed ONE Championship flyweight world champion.
Eustaquio opened things up in the first round with a big kick to the body, and then shot in for a takedown but nearly paid for it after getting caught in an early guillotine choke attempt from Moraes.
Eustaquio popped his head out to avoid the choke but the Brazilian transitioned into an armbar, and again, Eustaquio managed to survive, showing his vastly improved submission defense.
In the second round, Eustaquio went to his bread-and-butter as he peppered Moraes with strikes, ultimately forcing the grappling ace to try and take the fight back to the mats.
Moraes again tried for a submission, this time a rear naked choke, but Eustaquio managed to survive as the second round ended.
Eustaquio did a good job of stuffing Moraes’ takedown attempts in the third round, but the two-time ONE flyweight champion eventually brought the fight back down to the mat.
More of the same in round four, as Moraes did a good job of setting up his takedowns with strikes.
After powering out of a takedown in the fourth frame, Eustaquio showed that he, too, can bring the fight to the mats, picking Moraes up and delivering a hard slam that got the Pinoy fans in attendance at the Studio City Events Center going.
Moraes started the fifth round with another takedown, but it would just be the beginning of an action-packed five minutes, as both champion and interim champion took turns taking the fight to the mats and trying to lock in a submission.
After five rounds of back-and-forth action, Eustaquio did enough to earn the win on two of the three judges scoring the bout, giving him the split-decision victory. (ABS-CBN Sports)
