Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado pushed through tremendous adversity to claim the most emotionally-charged victory of his career.
On Friday, 23 November, the Filipino striker defeated China’s Peng Xue Wen via second-round TKO at ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS, which took place in front of his countrymen at the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.
While the hometown crowd cheered over his spectacular win, Miado closed his eyes, raised his hands in celebration, and dedicated the impressive showing to his late father.
"All I can say is I really prepared for that bout, and it showed in my performance. I trained in Malaysia for that. I trained many months for Peng Xue Wen. I am so happy that people got to appreciate my improvement as an athlete," the 25-year-old said.
“Sunday [at] midnight, my dad passed away. My father kept asking when he was in the hospital when I would come home. I drew strength from him. It is because of him that I love martial arts.”
Miado was tenacious from the opening bell and displayed marked improvements after he successfully defended against the Chinese wrestler’s takedown attempts.
He threw all of his punches and kicks with authority, and never showed any signs of losing steam.
The finish came at the 35-second mark of round two. Miado dropped Peng with a right uppercut, and then threw follow-up punches until referee Yuji Shimada stopped the contest.
"I worked on my strength and conditioning, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling,” the Filipino explained. “I was training even before I received a call for this bout.”
With momentum on his side, “The Jaguar" is already thinking about his next match-up.
He is hoping to land a showdown with Indonesia's Adrian “Papua Badboy” Mattheis or a rematch with Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit, who defeated him in November 2017.
A date and venue have yet to be determined for Miado's return.
For now, the Filipino takes great pleasure in knowing he served his father's memory well as ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS.
"I knew that if I won, he would be happy,” he stated. “The moment I won, I knew he was happy from up there. I know he was with me. I know he was watching, so I did my best to win."