Rene and Robin Catalan entered Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with dreams of bringing home twin victories. However, as ONE Championship: Quest for Greatness ended, the elder Catalan could only console his younger brother.
Rene Catalan makes it three in a row
Rene Catalan outworked Chinese wrestler Bu Huo You Ga over three rounds to earn the unanimous decision victory. The win moves his professional record to 3-2 (1 NC) and now, he has won three in a row.
Bu Huo You Ga came out with a spider-like crawl across the cage, but Catalan did not get distracted one bit by the unorthodox approach from the Chinese Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion.
In response, as Bu Huo You Ga got back to his feet, Catalan fired a perfectly-timed left hand straight down the middle, blasting his opponent and sending him tumbling to the mat.
Catalan followed Bu Huo You Ga to the ground, where he started to apply a strong ground and pound attack, but the 25-year-old Chinese composed himself before exploding out of the bottom to reverse positions.
Bu Huo You Ga was methodical with his attack, even nearly locking up a north-south choke, but he gave up his body control and allowed Catalan to flip over to get back on top again.
As the second round got underway, Bu Huo You Ga quickly shot in for a beautiful double leg takedown that planted his Filipino rival on the canvas. While Bu Huo You Ga was on top, Catalan did an outstanding job throwing short elbows from the bottom, forcing his opponent to stay in constant motion to avoid taking any serious damage.
Much like the previous exchanges on the ground, the two continuously reversed positions, with each one landing on top in an attempt to impose dominance. Eventually, the Chinese grappler got back on top as he looked for short, powerful punches while burying his head into Catalan’s chest as time ticked away in the round.
It appeared that the first 10 minutes had started to wear on Bu Huo You Ga in the third round, with Catalan cracking him with several stinging leg kicks. Bu Huo You Ga finally rushed forward to look for the takedown, but the Wushu world champion defended well before the two athletes locked up in the clinch.
Bu Huo You Ga finally got underneath a leg to drag the match to the ground, but unfortunately, he did not have good control. The Filipino reversed the takedown to land on top once they hit the mat. Catalan ended up moving into full mount before looking to take the back, but the Chinese competitor used his Greco-Roman Wrestling expertise to wiggle free and completely flip positions yet again.
The back-and-forth battle ended with Bu Huo You Ga attempting to wail away with strikes from the top, but the final bell sounded before he could land anything significant.
Robin Catalan overhelmed by DSA
Robin “The Ilonggo” Catalan could not wield the upset axe on former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke, succumbing to knee strikes to get the finish at 46 seconds into the second round.
The younger Catalang drops to 6-3.
It was not an easy victory by any means, however, as the 27-year-old Catalan gained an early advantage. He brought the crowd to its feet as he got underneath Amnuaysirichoke, elevated him into the air and brought the Thai crashing back to the mat with a powerful slam.
This resulted in a scramble, as both competitors looked to improve position. As time ticked away, the Filipino did a better job advancing his offense on the ground, while looking to take the back as he stayed on the attack.
Amnuaysirichoke, however, was able to get back to his feet, where he started to apply his world-class Muay Thai striking. To Catalan’s credit, he did a good job in not taking too much damage before the round came to an end.
While “The Ilonggo” seemed to have the edge in the early going, the former world champion was not going to be deterred. Almost immediately after the referee released the athletes from their corners, Amnuaysirichoke went after Catalan with everything in his arsenal, before locking up in a classic Muay Thai clinch on the feet.
From there, he unloaded with rapid-fire knee strikes and elbows until Catalan crumbled to the mat. The former strawweight titleholder kept firing away until referee Yuji Shimada saw enough and stopped the contest at just 46 seconds into the frame.
Story lifted from ONEFC.com
