Filipino fighters Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado and Robin “The Ilonggo” Catalan will have to wait a little bit longer before they can make their return to the ONE Circle.
Both fighters have been removed from their upcoming bouts due to ONE Championship COVID-19 health and safety protocols, effectively taking them out of ONE: HEAVY HITTERS this Friday, January 14 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Miado was set to take on Senzo Ikeda of Japan in the main card as he aimed to stretch his win streak to three. Catalan, on the other hand, was set to face Elipitua “The Magician” Siregar in the lead card in his first fight in a year.
Ikeda and Siregar will now face each other in a strawweight showdown on the main card.
It’s tough news to absorb for the Filipino fighters, both of whom were looking to start 2022 with a bang.
Miado, who holds a 10-4 record, was coming off a superb second round technical knockout victory over Miao Li Tao at ONE: NEXTGEN last October, proving that his first win over his Chinese rival was no fluke.
He also showed great strides in that fight, largely due to his newfound training grounds with Marrok Force MMA in Bangkok, and one enough to merit consideration to be included in the strawweight list in the official ONE athlete rankings.
Still, Miado chooses to look at this development positively, saying, “I believe this happened for a reason. Yes, it’s unfortunate that as an athlete, all of our efforts in training camp went to waste. But I believe God has His own plans.”
For Catalan, it was a matter of redeeming himself after losing to Ryuto “Dragon Boy” Sawada after tapping to a rear naked choke in the first round of their match at ONE: UNBREAKABLE III in January 2021.
At 10-7, Catalan looked at this match as an opportunity to bounce back, not just for himself but also his peers in Catalan Fighting System led by his older brother Rene.
“This is a sad news because I was really ready for this match and I was excited to head back to the ONE Circle and get the win. Unfortunately, we have to take this news and go back home, but we promise that once everything is ok, I’ll go back to train to be able to fight again,” he said.
Also among the cancelled fights include the co-main event match which would have seen Roman Kryklia defend his ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Championship against Dutch-Turkish challenger Murat “The Butcher” Aygun.
Nevertheless, ONE: HEAVY HITTERS remains an exciting card to watch with reigning ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan taking on Japanese challenger Ayaka Miura in the main event.
Also on deck is the Muay Thai showdown between Saemapetch and Tawanchai and the lightweight clash between James Nakashima and Khabib Nurmagomedov protege Saygid Izagakhmaev.