It is now crystal clear for Filipina atomweight Angelie "D Explorer" Sabanal that she has to focus on improving her ground game following her recent setback against Japan’s Itsuki Hirata.
The two mixed martial artists shared the ring last Saturday, 15 June at ONE: LEGENDARY QUEST where the Japanese debutant known as “Strong Heart Fighter” forced the Cagayan de Oro City native to submit via Americana at the 2:59 mark of the first round.
The gap in their ground game was pretty evident in Shanghai, China, and Sabanal knows she has to close the distance in order to achieve success in ONE Championship.
"Right now, we’re headed back to the drawing board," said the Philippine national Muay Thai silver medalist.
"We have to work more on my areas of improvement, especially in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and wrestling.
"These skills will be essential to my career moving forward. Hopefully, my team and I will be able to fix the holes in my game, and I can show the improvements in my next bout."
Sabanal held her own in the striking department until the Japanese competitor took her to the mat.
As soon as the action hit the ground, it was all Hirata, as "D Explorer" barely offered any resistance to her foe's submission attempts.
The 29-year-old Filipina said she did not lack in preparation for this match-up. Instead, she just simply got overwhelmed by Hirata’s superior grappling.
“When I climbed into the ring, of course, there were nerves. But I got over it,” she explained.
“We prepared hard for this match, but you know, it’s different in there. I still followed our game plan, but of course, our opponent was that much stronger.
”We practiced how to defend on the ground, but she really knows what she’s doing in there. But we’ll work on it.”
Sabanal, however, remained in high spirits after the bout.
Having a ‘win or learn’ outlook in her life, the only thing the setback did was motivate her to become a better athlete.
“We were up against a grappler, and now we know what she is capable of,” Sabanal added. “So now we’re back to working on our submission game — the jiu-jitsu and the wrestling, which is essential. Hopefully, we get to work on that.”