Pinoy fighter Catalan falters in One FC mixed martial arts

FILIPINO fighter Rene Catalan’s quest for glory ended in tears last Friday after he absorbed his second straight loss in the One Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC) One FC: Total Domination mixed martial arts competition held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.

The lone Philippine bet Catalan, who is an Asian Games Wushu gold medalist, lost his fight versus Kun Khmer Champion Khim Dima in the flyweight division of the event that was presented by ONE FC, Asia’s largest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organization.

In the main event of the competition, Brazilian Bibiano Fernandes was crowned the undisputed ONE FC Bantamweight World Champion after he defeated former World Champion Soo Chul Kim via a unanimous decision.

Both fighters swung for the fences in several ferocious exchanges before Fernandes took control of the contest with several well-timed take-downs that neutralized the aggressive South Korean.

Soo Chul Kim ruled the fourth round as he stuffed Fernandes’ takedowns that dropped the Brazilian on his back in the middle of the stanza.

“ONE FC has delivered yet another night of world-class MMA action to a packed out Singapore Indoor Stadium that had the fans on the edge of their seats,” said Victor Cui, CEO of ONE Fighting Championship during the event that was also attended by Cebuano boxing judge Salven Lagumbay. /Correspondent Jade S. Violeta