MANILA – Ariane Fantilanan of the Philippines suffered a harrowing first-round submission loss to reigning MMA national flyweight champion Suwardi of Indonesia on Saturday night at the Britama Arena in Jakarta.
Fantilanan, a native of Passi City, Iloilo under the Catalan Fighting System, had to pay the price for a wrong defensive move early in the match, giving Suwardi the opening to submission him.
Fantilanan’s head coach Rene Catalan did not hide his disappointment as their months of training went down the drain after the fighter’s miscue.
“I am really disappointed talaga dahil nasayang iyong months na ginugol namin sa training because lang nabigyan niya ng opening iyong kalaban niya,” Catalan told Panay News on Sunday morning.
“I reminded him at the start that he should be careful against Suwardi dahil may mga moves talaga siya na pabigla-bigla. Nasilip noong opponent iyong butas sa defense niya kaya na-triangle siya,” he added.
The defeat was a first for Fantilanan, who slid down to a 7-1-0 win-loss-draw slate.
He was coming off a victory against veteran fighter JB Baldonasa in Universal Reality Combat Championship on Sept. 14./PN
