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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Catalan, Torres unsuccessful at ONE: BIG BANG

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It was a night to forget for Catalan Fighting System and the Philippines in general at ONE: BIG BANG.

Rene “The Challenger” Catalan and Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres suffered first-round losses last Friday, 4 December, in their respective bouts at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. 

Number-three ranked strawweight Catalan was on the wrong end of a highlight-reel finish, as he got blasted by Bokang “Little Giant” Masunyane just 37 seconds into their bout. 

No one expected the finish, especially with Masunyane being more of a wrestler than a striker.

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Catalan’s takedown attempt started the beginning of the end for him, as “Little Giant” easily stuffed his shot and then tagged him with a knee to the body, which backed the Filipino up. 

When Catalan tried to circle out of harm’s way, Masunyane blasted him with a clean head kick, turning the lights off for “The Challenger.” 

“Leading (up) to the fight, I’ve been working on my stand-up and I wanted to showcase it,” Masunyane told Mitch Chilson after the bout. 

“I’ve been working a lot on my striking, mixing it up with my wrestling, and today it worked out quite well.” 

Catalan’s prized pupil in Torres didn’t have it any easier in the curtain raiser of the evening. 

Torres fell to Indian wrestling icon Ritu “The Indian Tigress” Phogat by TKO at the 3:55 mark of the first round. 

“The Zamboanginian Fighter” had no answer for the Evolve MMA star’s wrestling and was easily taken down early in the match.

Phogat then patiently worked her way to the top, eventually putting Torres in a crucifix and landing one punch after another, forcing the referee to stop the contest. 

In the main event, Marat Grigorian scored a sensational comeback win over Ivan Kondratev in their ONE Super Series kickboxing match. 

Grigorian came back from a first-round knockdown to finish the job in the second, as a stinging punch to the liver shut down Kondratev, giving Grigorian the amazing come-from-behind win. 

Catch all the ONE Championship action by downloading the ONE Super App. 

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