Catalan faces Silva in rematch in ‘NextGen III’

RENE CATALAN / ASIAN MMA
RENE CATALAN / ASIAN MMA



WUSHU world champion Rene Catalan is fighting former ONE strawweight champion Alex Silva in a much-anticipated rematch in ONE – “NextGen III” on Nov. 26, 2021 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.

Catalan and Silva fought back in 2013. It was Catalan’s debut in ONE Championship, while Silva came off a loss to Team Lakay’s Geje Eustaquio. Silva caught Catalan with an armbar and submitted him in the opening round.

Catalan is out for vengeance because aside from his loss to Silva, the Brazilian also beat his two brothers—Ruel and Robin.

Though Catalan is already up there in age at 42 years old, he’s proven that he still has a lot left in his tank after going on a six-fight winning streak that included a win over former strawweight champion Yoshitaka Naito in 2019.

Catalan, however, lost his last two fights. He got submitted by Joshua Pacio with an arm triangle choke in a ONE strawweight title fight in 2019 and got knocked out by No. 2 ranked Bokang Masuyane in 2020.

The 39-year-old Silva, on the other hand, hopes to get past Catalan for another run at the ONE strawweight belt currently around the waist of Pacio. He’s currently ranked No. 4 in the division behind No. 3 Hiroba Minowa, Masuyane and No. 1 rated Yosuke Saruta.

After back-to-back losses to Pacio and Minowa, Silva bounced back with a unanimous decision victory over Li Tao Miao on Aug. 13.

Catalan is 6-4, while Silva is 10-6.

The main event of “NextGen III” features a strawweight battle between No. 5 ranked Lito Adiwang (13-3) of Team Lakay and former UFC fighter Jarred Brooks (16-2).

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