Former flyweight world champion Geje Eustaquio saved the night for Filipino warriors when he pulled a unanimous decision victory against a South Korean opponent, as two other Team Lakay fighters suffered losses in the ONE: Inside the Matrix III in Singapore on Friday night.
The 31-year-old Eustaquio used his world championship experience in keeping Min Jong Sung at bay with his excellent standing fight skills throughout the three five-minute bout in the catchweight division.
Eustaquio has proved he came well-prepared than his opponent, who is considered one of the rising fighters in the ONE promotion after he nailed back-to-back wins prior to the Nov. 13 bout.
The Korean fighter has not suffered defeat since February 2015 until the Igorot warrior delivered his first mixed martial arts fight loss in five years.
Eustaquio improved his fight record to 14 wins against eight losses, with a back-to-back win since stopping former contender Toni Tauro via spinning back kick in November 2019.
Former two-time ONE bantamweight champion Kevin Belingon and rising star Lito Adiwang suffered losses via technical knockout and split decision, respectively.
The 33-year-old Belingon was stopped by John Lineker in the second round of the fight night’s main event.
The Brazilian slugger displayed he has more fight experience when he outclassed the warrior from Kiangan, Ifugao, who suffered a three-fight losing streak since last year.
Belingon, who vowed to come back strong, dropped to 20 wins against eight losses while Lineker improved to 33-9-0.
Adiwang, meanwhile, suffered his first loss in four years when Koha Minowa secured a split decision win against the rising Filipino MMA star.
The former Shooto fighter was successful in his ONE debut by pulling what could be a major upset in Adiwang’s bid to establish himself as a top contender for the strawweight title currently held by fellow Lakay fighter Joshua Pacio.
Adiwang dropped to 11 wins and three losses while Minowa improved his record to 11-2-0.
Last year, Minowa also defeated Lakay fighter Jared Almazan via rear-naked choke in their strawweight fight in another promotion in Japan. – Harley Palangchao
