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Friday, March 29, 2024

Banario feels he can still improve after recent win

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Former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario is not exactly pleased with his performance against Rahul "The Kerala Krusher" Raju last Friday, 23 November, despite claiming a hard-earned victory.

Banario feels he can still improve after recent win
Honorio Banario

The Filipino striker went the distance against his Indian foe, taking home a unanimous decision at ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS from the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.

Throughout the years, Banario's stable Team Lakay has made an impression of having unlimited cardio in every contest. They train at high altitude in the mountains of Baguio City, but he appeared to have lost steam as early as the second round.

He acknowledges his shortcomings in the bout, and says the experience taught him a lesson that he can utilize for his future matches.

"I realized I need to work on my physique, and my strength and conditioning. I was surprised he was that strong. His wrestling got me tired. I didn't really expect him to be that strong. I gassed out from defending his takedowns," Banario admitted.

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"My takeaway from that bout is I have to prepare better heading into a match. I have to be always ready should I get a short notice [bout], so I'll be able to perform the way I want to."

Banario was originally tasked to lock horns with South Korea's Dae Sung Park in a three-round bout. However, the South Korean withdrew from the card after he failed to secure medical clearance just a few days before the event.

Despite the sudden withdrawal of Park, the Filipino was unfazed with the replacement of his new opponent, Raju.

"There were challenges during fight week. The last-minute replacement of opponent changed everything including our game plan," said Banario.

"If I only had better conditioning, I could've done better. I could've done so many things, like possibly getting a submission."

At the end of the day, the former champion says he'll take the win as it is. He knows there are a lot more things to improve on as he eagerly awaits his next assignment.

"I am not satisfied with my performance, but at the very least I won. I'll do better next time," he said.

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