ONE Strawweight World Title contender Rene “The Challenger” Catalan continues to maximize his off-season by continuing his advocacy of pushing the growth of martial arts in the country.
The 40-year-old Iloilo City native hosted a martial arts competition named ‘Philippine Encuentro Championship: Search For Philippine Heroes’ in the Catalan Fighting System gym in Makati City last Saturday, 25 May.
The event was comprised of 16 mixed martial arts contests with three kickboxing bouts, and different athletes participated in the event with the hope of making a transition into these sports.
“Our mission is to help our Filipino athletes to improve their martial arts skills and scout for new talent in different sports,” the elder Catalan said.
“There are so many talented athletes here, but the problem is there are few opportunities for exposure. That’s why I opened this tournament. This is a way for them to start their careers.”
Catalan was certainly happy with how things turned out.
“It was a success. I am so happy that there are a lot of people who came and supported. This is just proof that the sport of martial arts continues to grow in the country,” he continued.
“We received good feedback, and we’re looking forward to more events.”
Following the successful turnout, Catalan plans to do it more often moving forward.
He intends to treat the initiative as a way of giving back to martial arts, which has been so good to him since starting as a wushu practitioner decades ago.
“It’s important for athletes to know that careers aren’t the only thing that’s built by joining these kinds of tournaments. It also helps shape their attitude and determination,” Catalan said.
“We would like to do this every two months. My next target date will be on July 27, then maybe two more events before we end 2019.”
Catalan was last seen in action this past March when he remarkably stopped former ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito in the first-round of their encounter at ONE: REIGN OF VALOR.
As he waits for his next assignment in ONE Championship, “The Challenger” continues to hone his skills while looking to give back to the community at the same time.
“This is one of the ways where I can give back to the fans and to the people who have been supporting me since day one,” Catalan explained.
“I want to help them. I want to raise their level and push them to reach their dreams in martial arts.”
