Ilonggo mixed martial arts fighter Rene Catalan failed to replicate his winning performances in the previous flights after he was defeated in the ONE: Big Bang at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Dec 5.
After his hiatus, Catalan’s return in the ring was unsuccessful after he suffered from a first round knockout loss to Bokang Masunyane of South Africa.
The pride of Sta. Barbara, Iloilo got floored after a left high kick from Masunyane that abruptly ended an absolute slugfest, with only 37 seconds.
It was a hurting loss for the third-ranked ONE strawweight fighter who was defeated twice. He also suffered a submission defeat to reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua Pacio in November last year.
With the loss, Catalan dropped his record to a 6-4 win-loss slate while Masunyane remained unscathed at 8-0.
Meanwhile, Catalan’s trainee Jomary Torres also failed to make a vengeance after bowing to Ritu Phogat of India during a first-round technical knockout defeat.
The Indian MMA player did not waste away the time and landed solid hits to the Zamboangueña for the majority of the opening round. The victor saw an open opportunity when she trapped Torres into a crucifix before unloading a barrage of elbows, sealing the deal with her ground and pound and leading the referee calling the bout at the 3:55 mark of Round 1.
With a dropping 4-5 win loss record, Torres suffered from a fifth straight defeat, while Phogat improved to 4-0.IMT
Photo from tiebreakertimes.com
