ONE: Masters Of Fate – Pacio Retains Strawweight Title
Champions prevailed and a contender for Knockout of the Year was created on Friday, as ONE Championship presented Masters of Fate inside the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila.
Joshua Pacio submitted Rene Catalan in the main event to retain his ONE Strawweight Championship. In his first title defense since reclaiming the belt back in April, Pacio (15-3) utilized a strong ground game to secure the win. At one point, Catalan held Pacio down with a heel hold. While the submission was tight, Pacio was able to roll out and survive the first round.
๐ต๐ญ They see me rollin'… ๐ต๐ญ#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #MastersOfFate pic.twitter.com/tfKw4WZng6
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 8, 2019
In the second, Pacio worked his way into the mount following a Catalan takedown. He then locked in the arm-triangle choke, forcing Catalan to tap out right away. Pacio has now won two fights in a row.
๐ THE KING DEFENDS HIS CROWN ๐
Team Lakay ๐ต๐ญ phenom Joshua Pacio stops the streaking Rene Catalan with a Round 2 arm-triangle choke to retain his ONE Strawweight World Title!#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #MastersOfFate pic.twitter.com/wYPFL4dKG5— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 8, 2019
In the co-main event, Eduard Folayang defeated Amarsanaa Tsogookhuu via technical decision. Folayang utilized a plethora of huge shots to “Spear”, forcing him to retreat several times. The fight was ended early as both fighters collided heads midway into the second. The judges scored the bout in favor of Folayang (22-8), who broke his two-fight losing streak. The former ONE Lightweight Champion is now 4-2 in his last six fights.
A true highlight of the night came in the fourth fight, as Geje Eustaquio had a Knockout of the Year contender against Toni Tauru. It did not look good for the former ONE Flyweight Champion in the first round, as Tauru almost picked up a submission win. Geje (13-8), however, would not give up, using strikes in the second to give him the advantage. In an important round three, Geje finished the comeback with a brutal spinning back kick to the chest of Tauru, knocking him down to the mat.
๐ต๐ญ THE REMATCH KING REIGNS SUPREME ๐ต๐ญ
Geje Eustaquio knocks out former foe Toni Tauru with a THUNDEROUS spinning back kick in Round 3!#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #MastersOfFate pic.twitter.com/poyTGJSTta— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 8, 2019
Check out the ONE Championship results below.
Joshua Pacio (c) def. Rene Catalan via Arm Triangle submission (2:29 minutes into round two) – ONE Strawweight World Championship:
Eduard Folayang def. Amarsanaa Tsogookhuu via Technical Decision
Sangmanee Sathian Muaythai def. Azize Hlali via Unanimous Decision
Geje Eustaquio def. Toni Tauru via KO (2:11 minutes into round three)
Stamp Fairtex def. Bi Nguyen via Unanimous Decision
Li Kai Wen def. Paul Lumihi via KO (2:39 into round one)
Yoshitaka Naito def. Pongsiri Mitsatit via Unanimous Decision
Kongsak PK.Saenchaimuaythaigym def Han Zi Hao via Unanimous Decision
Robin Catalan defeats Gustavo Balart via KO (4:43 into round two)
Tukkatatong Petpayathai def. Hiroaki Suzuki via Split Decision
Kim Jae Woong defeats Rafael Nunes via TKO (0:38 into round three)
Kim Kyu Sung def. Akihiro Fujisawa via KO (1:08 into round one)
Roshan Mainam def. Khon Shichan via Armlock submission (3:22 into round one)