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Greater than eight years after their first assembly, Alex “Little Rock” Silva and Rene “The Challenger” Catalan are able to do battle as soon as once more.
The veteran strawweight stars will sq. off in a blended martial arts conflict at ONE: NEXTGEN III, which airs from the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 26 November.
The panorama has modified dramatically since Silva and Catalan went to warfare on 5 April 2013, however each athletes are nonetheless wanting to make a dent of their division.
With battle evening lower than two weeks away, let’s revisit the street that led to this long-awaited rematch.
Their First Battle
Now a seasoned campaigner within the sport, Catalan was making his blended martial arts debut when he confronted off in opposition to “Little Rock” at ONE: KINGS AND CHAMPIONS.
At that time, the multiple-time Wushu World Champion had loads of putting experience however little in the best way of grappling acumen – one thing BJJ World Champion Silva exploited to attain a first-round submission win.
The Evolve consultant took “The Challenger” down within the opening exchanges, and regardless of valiant efforts to defend and escape, he dominated the competition till latching onto an armbar with lower than 30 seconds left within the body.
Retaining It In The Household
Along with his first victory on the worldwide stage within the books, Silva went on a tear that took him to the very prime of the division – however his subsequent two bouts had been notably near dwelling for Catalan.
“Little Rock” scored back-to-back first-round submissions over two of Rene’s brothers, catching Ruel Catalan in a kneebar at ONE: SPIRIT OF CHAMPIONS and ending Robin “The Ilonggo” Catalan with an arm-triangle choke at ONE: UNION OF WARRIORS.
These outcomes undoubtedly prompted the Crew Catalan secure to take a critical take a look at its floor recreation so the athletes might evolve and thrive in The House of Martial Arts.
‘The Challenger’ Breaks By
Following his debut loss to Silva, “The Challenger” continued to cope with setbacks. He took a no contest and suffered one other defeat earlier than lastly getting the possibility to style victory.
The Filipino’s laborious work lastly paid dividends at ONE: UNBREAKABLE WARRIORS in September 2016. That night, he beat Zhang You Liang by choice – after which went on a powerful run along with his newfound confidence.
Silva Grabs The Gold
Boosted by three straight wins over the Catalan household, Silva continued his ascent.
The Brazilian defeated Filipino boxing specialist Roy Doliguez by armbar at ONE: THRONE OF TIGERS after which handed Hayato Suzuki the one lack of his profitable profession with one other signature submission at ONE: LEGENDS OF THE WORLD.
This earned “Little Rock” a shot at Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito’s gold, and he snatched it from the Japanese grappler after 5 rounds of motion to turn into the brand new ONE Strawweight World Champion at ONE: WARRIORS OF THE WORLD in December 2017.
Life After The Throne
“Little Rock’s” reign was a brief one, nevertheless. He misplaced the belt in a direct rematch with Naito at ONE: GRIT AND GLORY in Could 2018.
Since then, although, he’s by no means been greater than a hair’s breadth away from the gold. He’s constantly battled prime contenders and gone all the way down to achingly shut selections. Alongside the best way, he’s added extra submissions to his resume over Stefer “The Lion” Rahardian and Peng Xue Weng in 2019.
Furthermore, there wasn’t a lot to separate Silva and Joshua “The Ardour” Pacio once they clashed for the World Title at ONE: FIRE & FURY in January 2020. Nonetheless, “Little Rock” ended up on the fallacious facet of a cut up choice.
He then misplaced one other tight cut up choice in opposition to Hiroba Minowa at ONE: FISTS OF FURY III this previous March however rebounded with a win over Miao Li Tao at ONE: BATTLEGROUND II in August.
Catalan Will get His World Title Shot
Regardless of the tough begin to his MMA profession, Catalan bounced again and put collectively some of the unbelievable resurgences in ONE historical past.
The win over Zhang served as a springboard to success, and he amassed six straight victories total, beating the likes of Adrian “Papua Badboy” Mattheis and Rahardian. All of it culminated in a TKO over former ONE Strawweight World Champion Naito at ONE: REIGN OF VALOR in March 2019.
It appeared like Catalan’s Cinderella Man story was about to be full when he challenged for the World Title, however that dream was derailed by his compatriot Pacio once they clashed at ONE: MASTERS OF FATE in November 2019.
The heartbreaking defeat was later compounded by one other loss to Bokang Masunyane at ONE: BIG BANG in December 2020.
What’s Subsequent?
With Silva and Catalan now 39 and 42 years previous, respectively, this may very well be the final likelihood for both man to make a big run towards World Championship gold.
A setback might see them run out of time to mount a cost, so the result’s essential for either side at ONE: NEXTGEN III.
Each males have the talent and need to make an influence, however just one can emerge with their hand raised.
The stakes are excessive, and that ought to make for an enchanting rematch on the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Learn extra: 5 Fiery Finishes From The Stars Competing At ONE: NEXTGEN III
