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Friday, March 29, 2024

Iniong’s patience rewarded by ONE

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PATIENCE is its own reward.

Gina “Conviction” Iniong found out that this was true as she finally saw action in ONE Championship after years of trying to break into Asia’s premier mixed martial arts organization.

The 27-year-old Filipina finally achieved her dream when she saw action at ONE: Kings of Destiny at the Mall of Asia Arena last Friday, April 21. Iniong dominated Natalie “The Kilapino” Gonzales Hills en route to a unanimous decision victory to put the cherry on top of her ONE debut.

Iniong was introduced to martial arts in high school when she was recruited by Mark Sangiao to join the University of the Cordilleras Wushu squad. She led her school to victories in national tournaments and it was only logical that she eventually turned to MMA as a member of Team Lakay.

Gina Iniong

Inong was aggressive from the start and put Hills on the defensive. “The Kilapino” landed some solid hits in the early going. She even caught one of Iniong’s leg kicks, but the Team Lakay product pushed Hills against the fence and hit her with some sharp knees. Iniong then threw Hills across the cage with a suplex.

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Iniong let her hands fly even more in round two. The 29-year-old Hills unloaded jabs and kicks but Iniong parried her attacks and countered with powerful combinations. Iniong then caught Hills with a stinging right hand which sent “The Kilapino” to the cage wall. Iniong then pinned Hills against the cage and then unloaded with more strikes.

Desperate for a win Hills tried to take the initiative with strikes. She even tried to take Iniong down but the Team Lakay veteran proved too elusive and continued to pepper Hills with strikes.

Iniong earned the victory by unanimous decision and improved her overall MMA record to 5-2. Hills suffered her fifth consecutive loss as her recorded skidded to 1-5.

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