REIGNING flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes and interim title holder Geje Eustaquio squares off in a rematch four years in the making to unify One Championship’s 56.8 kilograms category.
Both title holder will serve as the co-main event of ONE’s ‘Pinnacle of Power’ set on June 16 at the Olympic Sports Center, Beijing in China.
Headlining the event is China’s first-ever mixed martial arts world champion, Xiong Jing Nan, defends her ONE women’s strawweight world title against top-ranked Argentine powerhouse Laura Balin.
Eustaquio, of the famed Baguio based MMA squad Team Lakay earned the interim flyweight belt after edging Kairat Akhmetov by unanimous decision in an exhilarating five-round bout earlier in January.
Although Akhmetov managed to showcase his wrestling, it was largely ineffective against Eustaquio, who was far superior in the striking department for the majority of the bout.
Eustaquio repeatedly connected on Akhmetov with crisp, clean combinations throughout the championship contest which impressed all three judges.
Moraes on the other hand Moraes, on the other hand, defeated Eustaquio's fellow Team Lakay fighter, Danny Kingad, last November to retain his crown.
Moraes remained the undisputed king of flyweight king, denying Danny Kingad’s bid to become a world champion by submitting the Filipino talent with a rear-naked choke in the first round in their Nvember 2017 match-up.
Kingad and Eustaquio are both team mates at Team Lakay.
The Brazillian put on a masterful performance, pacifying Kingad’s striking advantage in the early going as the Brazilian grappling expert utilized his high-level ground game. On the mat, Moraes executed a forceful transition into a rear-naked choke that left Kingad no choice but to submit in the final seconds of the round.
Moraes (17-2) and Eustaquio (10-6) first fought for the inaugural flyweight crown in 2014 in a fight with the Brazilian winning by submission and has remained the dominant force in the division ever since, although he was temporarily parted from the belt after a split-decision loss to Kairat Akhmetov. Roderick Osis