MANILA – Robin Catalan saw his winning streak halted after a submission loss to Japanese Hayato Suzuki in ONE: Kingdom of Heroes at the Impact Arena in Thailand.
A last-minute replacement to injured brother Rene, “The Ilonggo” failed to keep in step with the tough Suzuki on Saturday night to suffer his first defeat after winning his previous two bouts.
Suzuki immediately stamped class in the opening round, banking on his wrestling skills to put his opponent to the ground. Catalan struggled to find his way to attack the Japanese.
Suzuki went for the kill in the second round as he fastened a wrenching rear naked choke to force Catalan to tap, handing the former his ninth submission victory.
After the loss the 28-year-old Catalan saw his record drop to eight wins and four losses while the 32-year-old Suzuki improved to 19-1, including a two-game winning run in ONE FC.
Ramon Gonzales, on the other hand, did not have the same fate as Catalan as he managed a first-round submission victory against Dodi Mardian of Indonesia – his second in the prestigious MMA organization.
Gonzales, a Bicol native, made a quick work of Mardian via a rear naked choke submission to improve his record to 3-2. Mardian dropped to 0-3./PN
