Four Filipinos competed in ONE Championship: Hero’s Dream Friday night at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar.
However, only Zamboaga sensation Jomary Torres was able to come home with a victory as Eugene Toquero, Jeremy Miado, and Burn Soriano were all finished in their respective match-ups.
Jomary Torres edges out Nita Dea
Three months removed from crushing Thai heroine Rika “Tinydoll” Ishige’s undefeated record in a successful promotional debut, Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres deployed a grappling-heavy strategy to keep her momentum going.
With the win, Torres improves to 3-0.
The Filipina atomweight attempted to finish Indonesia’s Nita Dea several times during their seesaw battle, but she could not. As a consolation, she pulled away with a unanimous decision victory.
For the first two rounds, Torres shot for the takedown and immediately brought her nemesis to the ground. She systematically advanced to more dominant positions, such as the mount and side control. To Dea’s credit, she stayed active and reversed course multiple times, but it nearly cost her twice, as the Filipina closed out each round threatening with rear-naked choke attempts.
Dea’s closest attempt to turning the tide was when she rocked Torres with a knee to the chin in the third stanza. Torres, despite being momentarily stunned, still brought the three-time Indonesian Sanda Champion to the canvas, and closed out the contest in the full-mount.
Burn Soriano’s comeback derailed by Chen Lei
A lot of hype surrounded Filipino bantamweight Burn “Hitman” Soriano before he stepped into the ONE Championship cage against China’s “Rock Man” Chen Lei. Soriano, who recently upgraded his training camp by enlisting the aid of Alliance MMA Philippines coach George Castro, looked to showcase his improvement in both skill and conditioning.
Taking on a the undefeated Chen however, a Shanghai Open BJJ Champion, Soriano would be tested in the grappling department.
In the end, it was Chen who scored a technical knockout, sending “Hitman” crashing back to the drawing board. The official finish came at 1:06 of round two, after “Rock Man” blasted Soriano with ground-and-pound from full mount.
As the first round began, Chen’s familiar relentless style took precedence, as he stormed out of the gates looking to brawl with his Filipino rival. An outside leg trip successfully brought the action to the mat, as Chen rained down punishment. Trapping Soriano’s arms with solid wrist control, the Chinese grappler pounded away with a stream of unanswered lefts.
Soriano would eventually power through his predicament, and somehow make his way back up to the feet. Visibly drained by the furious start, both warriors then traded their best strikes against the fence. Soriano surprisingly went for the takedown himself, and towards the end of the round, would catch Chen in an armbar that nearly earned him a submission finish.
Stepping into unfamiliar territory, Soriano entered the second round for the first time in his career. It turned out to be short-lived, however, as Chen immediately took the Filipino back down to the ground.
After securing full mount, it was the beginning of the end,as the Chinese stalwart unloaded a series of elbows on Soriano, who covered up as referee Yuji Shimada was compelled to intervene.
It was another heartbreaking setback for Soriano, who now has to reevaluate where he plans to take his career.
Jeremy Miado succumbs to Pongsiri Misatit
Undefeated strawweight Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit picked up a second-round TKO victory after continually dialing up the pressure on his opponent.
In the first stanza, “The Jaguar” proved to be a worthy adversary, asking questions of Mitsatit with his takedowns and top control. The Team Quest Thailand product answered admirably, showing great submission defense. He even fended off a Miado leg lock, and showcased effective defensive wrestling skills as he worked back to his feet several times.
In the meantime, the Thai was also landing hard and accurate strikes, forcing his aggressive Muay Thai game onto the Filipino.
The pressure and strikes Miado had absorbed in the first round began to take their toll in the second, and repeated Mitsatit knees from the clinch took much off the speed out of his takedown attempts. This allowed Mitsatit more free reign to land punches, kicks, and knees, with “The Jaguar” fading by the second.
“The Smiling Assassin” then sent the Filipino to the mat with a hard low kick, and when Miado got back up and tried to take him down again, it would be a costly mistake. He did not have enough energy left to finish the shot, and that allowed Mitsatit to easily take top position and land strikes from mount. Ultimately, that forced Miado to verbally submit at the 4:23 mark with no escape imminent.
Eugene Toquero’s skid continues
Ma Hao Bin, a Chinese National Wrestling Champion, had a battle on his hands against Filipino knockout artist Eugene Toquero, but he still managed to pull off a first-round finish.
While he noted improvements in his striking leading into the event, Ma quickly relied on his wrestling base by swooping in for a takedown early in the opening stanza. Seeing an opening for a guillotine choke, he quickly grabbed on to Toquero’s neck and fell to his back looking for the submission, but the Filipino stayed patient until he slipped free.
Ma was absolutely relentless with his pressure, constantly looking for the takedown as the Filipino was doing everything in his power to scramble out of a series of bad positions.
While he is best known for his top game where he typically unleashes some fierce ground and pound, Ma was just as dangerous from his back, as he continuously fished for submissions with Toquero on top, including an armbar that he grabbed with less than a minute to go in the first round.
“The Southern Eagle” quickly arched his hips to lock up the submission, as Toquero fell to the mat trying to resist until the bell sounded. But with his arm extended and nowhere to go, he was forced to tap out at 4:51 of round one.
ONE Championship: Hero’s Dream results
November 3, 2017 – Thuwunna Indoor Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar
Flyweight bout: Ma Hao Bin defeats Eugene Toquero by Submission (Armbar) at 4:51 minutes of round 1
Strawweight bout: Pongsiri Mitsatit defeats Jeremy Miado by TKO (Verbal Submission) at 4:23 minutes of round 2
Bantamweight bout: Chen Lei defeats Burn Soriano by TKO (Strikes) at 1:06 minutes of round 2
Women’s atomweight bout: Jomary Torres defeats Nita Dea by Unanimous Decision (UD)
Photo and stories lifted from ONEFC.com
