MANILA – Ilonggo mixed martial arts fighter Rene Catalan scored a first round submission win against former strawweight world champion Yoshitaka Naito of Japan in ONE: Reign of Valor the other night in Yangon, Myanmar.
It was the sixth consecutive victory of the Santa Barbara, lloilo native Catalan to put himself into ONE Championship world title contention later this year.
The 40-year-old Catalan did not show any sign of slowing down as he immediately imposed his presence on Naito with consecutive punches that led for the stoppage of the bout at the 4:32 mark of the opening round.
“Definitely, this is the toughest and biggest match of my career,” said Catalan. “I know Naito is a former world champion, well-experienced and is dangerous on the mat so I really studied his moves well.”
He added: “I’ve been training for these kinds of guys for so long, and I’ve been training hard almost every day. So I feel great to win here in Yangon and put myself closer to my dream of becoming a world champion.”
With the victory, Catalan has improved his MMA record to six wins and two losses, Naito, meanwhile, suffered his second consecutive defeat to drop to 13-3 win-loss slate.
Meanwhile, Filipina MMAer Jomary Torres suffered a first round submission loss to Chinese sensation Lim Heqin, who finished off her opponent with a slick triangle choke move./PN
