AFTER seeing his two-bout winning run snapped by Japanese Hayato Suzuki two Saturdays ago, Ilonggo mixed martial arts fighter Robin Catalan is eager to bounce back in ONE Championship.
“The Ilonggo,” a last-minute replacement to injured brother Rene, said he saw a silver lining in his submission loss to Suzuki that he will use to improve his game.
“I’m happy with what I was able to do, honestly. I was able to hold my own and put on a good performance even with just three weeks of preparation,” Catalan said in an online interview.
“Hayato Suzuki is a really good grappler, and in the second round, he was able to get a tight grip on me, and then when he took my back, I just couldn’t stop him,” Catalan said.
He added: “Definitely, this only makes me want to work even harder and come back even better. I’m going to train even more so that I can improve on my shortcomings and fix what needs to be fixed in my arsenal.”
Catalan also said he will just rest for a while before returning to training to improve on his ground game, his waterloo in his match against Suzuki, as a preparation for his next bout.
“My grappling is an area that needs improvement, that’s what I’ll be working on,” he said. “I’m always ready to get back in there and bounce back. I would most definitely want to compete as soon as possible so that I can get back on track.”
6 SCHOOLS IN PSL
A total of six schools are set to participate when the Philippine Superliga rolls out its very first collegiate tournament, which will coincide with the All-Filipino Conference later this month.
Among those participating in the inaugural event to be played every Saturday are University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, University of the East, University of Santo Tomas, De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, and Colegio San Agustin-Biñan.
PSL chairman Philip Ella Juico said the PSL Collegiate Grand Slam (CGS) promises to be another action-packed battle as it features the country’s brightest collegiate players in preparation for their potential career in the semiprofessional league.
He added that PSL rules will also be applied and teams will be given a chance to use the challenge system to make sure that the officiating will be at par with international standards.
“We want to explore the possibility of having a strong collegiate league,” said Juico. “We have six teams in our inaugural conference. But we expect more college squads to join as soon as we get this tournament off the ground.”
Having collegiate teams in a regular tournament is nothing new for the PSL, with University of Perpetual Help System DALTA, UST, UP, and UE participating in the Invitational Conference.
But with the formation of the CGS, the collegiate field will be very competitive as there would be a division solely dedicated to young players who are looking to play in the country’s most prestigious club league in the future.
“We expect these young players to join the club ranks in the next couple of years. That’s why we realized that we should develop them this early and prepare them for the tough grind ahead,” said Juico.
“We’re looking forward to harnessing more talents through a successful staging of this developmental tournament,” he added./PN
