Pinoy MMA fighter’s ONE FC loss nullified due to opponent’s illegal strikes
The Philippines' ONE FC losing streak is no longer at six, but back to five.
A day after Rene Catalan of Santa Barbara, Iloilo, succumbed to Cambodia's Khim Dima in “ONE FC : Total Domination” because of a referee-stopped contest in round two, Asia's biggest Mixed Martial Arts promotion has had a change of heart.
This was their official comment on the fight, which took place last Friday in the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“After reviewing the bout between Khim Dima and Rene Catalan, ONE FC officials have decided that Khim Dima landed several significant illegal strikes to the back of the neck of his opponent, Rene Catalan.
The win for Dima has now been reversed and this fight will be officially ruled a No Contest.”
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No Contest decisions are usually declared in MMA when an unintentional illegal move renders the recipient unable to proceed in the fight.
Catalan, a 34-year old former four-time Wushu world champ, was clearly dominating the fight in the Flyweight division, taking down the 21-year old Cambodian twice and nearly catching him with an armbar twice as well.
But midway through the second five-minute round, Dima connected, Catalan crumpled to the ground, and Dima followed up with punches to the side and back of the head.
Referee Kenichi Serizawa of Japan stopped the bout and declared Dima the winner. Catalan was subsequently stretchered off.
But Dima's victory did not last long, as the bout has been wiped off the record books. Catalan's MMA record reverts to 0-1 with one No Contest, while Dima, fighting in his first MMA bout after over 200 Khmer Boxing fights, will wait another day for an official debut.
“Medyo bangag pa ako ngayon, until I have sleep mula kagabi (sic)” said Catalan at around 9 pm on Saturday on his Facebook timeline. “halos 10 strikes ang tumama sa batok ko. Di ko maramdaman yung ibang tama. Referee ang mali.”
(I'm still spaced out. Haven't had sleep since last night. I took almost ten shots to the back of my head. I couldn't feel the other shots. The referee was wrong.)
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“Dapat disqualify ang right decision. Referee ang dapat sisihin.” (It should have been a disqualification. The referee is to be blamed.)
Strikes on the back of the head are dangerous and made Bleacher Report's list of 10 most illegal MMA moves along with groin shots, eye gouging, piledriving, head butting, and stomps to the head of a grounded opponent.
The back of the head is a sensitive spot, and just last year Loyola Meralco Sparks midfielder Anto Gonzales was knocked unconscious in a UFL game when he took a shot from a Football on the back of his head.
The post on ONE FC's official Facebook page announcing the decision was shared 151 times and like 848 times. Most commenters seemed to agree with the reversal.
“YES! Thank you ONE FC for making the right call” opined one commenter.
“Safety of the players is the first priority. ONE FC made the right call” wrote another.
The footage of the fight in its entirety can be viewed here.
With the No Contest, the Philippines' losing streak in ONE FC events remains at five. Last May in front of thousands of Pinoys at the SM Mall of Asia, Pinoy pugs went 0-5 in a ONE FC event. One of the losses was Honorio Banario's KO defeat to Koji Oishi of Japan that forced him to hand over the ONE FC Featherweight belt.
Catalan overcame unimaginable personal and professional trials to face Dima, and he could very well be facing him again down the road, although ONE FC has yet to announce a rematch.
After a similar No Contest in their first meeting, ONE FC ordered Thailand's Shannon Wiratchai and the USA's Mitch Chilson to fight again last Friday, with Wiratchai prevailing.
Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333. Follow ONE FC @ONEFCMMA.
