6 March 2019
If Catalan Fighting System head coach Rene Catalan is to be believed, then his warrior in Jomary Torres needs to step up more than ever.
Torres absorbed consecutive decision losses in her last two outings, putting her on a virtual must-win match when she takes on China’s Lin Heqin at ONE: REIGN OF VALOR this Friday, 8 March at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar.
Knowing how damaging a third-straight loss would be for his ward, Catalan hopes to see the Torres of old, the one who won three consecutive matches to open her campaign in ONE Championship.
“She has to be explosive and impressive in her upcoming fight. We cannot afford to have a third consecutive defeat,” he said as Torres suffered decision losses to Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol and former ONE World Title contender Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi to end 2018.
But if there is one reason to be hopeful for Catalan, it is the fact that they are going to finish this training camp seamlessly without any hiccups, major or minor.
Catalan shared that “The Zamboanginian Fighter” had to prepare with ankle issues in the past, something that they finally avoided for this contest.
“Our training went well this time around, unlike her last couple of fights when she had problems with her ankle,” he bared.
Now that he was successful in preparing Torres physically, Catalan will have to focus on getting Torres’ confidence back.
It is not easy, especially coming from consecutive losses, but Catalan was happy to see that Torres’ head is in the right place heading into this critical match-up.
“I told her to take those losses as a learning experience, and that we must properly execute our game plan moving forward,” he stated.
“She was in high spirits even after losing. Everything I tell her she absorbs.”
Now that they have that out of the way, it is now a matter of getting things done in the cage.
“We might go for a stoppage in this fight. We are prepared to do everything,” he stated. “We already have a game plan that only needs to be followed.”
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