Geje ‘Gravity’ Eustaquio raring to seize his time as ONE champion
FILIPINO mixed martial arts fighter Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio makes his ONE Championship return later this month, determined more than ever to have the flyweight world championship belt strapped on him.
The interim ONE flyweight champion, Team Lakay stalwart Eustaquio is set to meet reigning world champ Adriano Moraes in a unification bout set for June 23 at the Studio City Event Center in Macau, China, dubbed “ONE: Pinnacle of Power,” a fight he is viewing with a lot of excitement for a victory in it serves as a fulfillment of his dream to become a champion.
“I am so pumped up with this fight and me and my team are preparing hard for it. They say this is a once-ina-lifetime chance so I have to make the most of the opportunity given to me and bring that belt back home,” said Mr. Eustaquio (10-6) as he met members of local sports media on Wednesday.
The unification bout with Brazilian Moraes ( 17- 2) is a rematch of their September 2014 encounter where the Filipino fell in the second round by way of submission ( guillotine choke).
It is a result that Mr. Eustaquio does not see happening this time around, believing that he has improved significantly as a fighter since he faced the reigning champion for the first time.
“In 2014, admittedly my grappling was not yet as developed but in my last fights I have shown the whole world how I have developed and improved my grappling or jiu-jitsu. I’m a confident now that I can roll with the Brazilian black belt,” Mr. Eustaquio said.
The fight being a rematch should also serve him well, Mr. Eustaquio said, believing that he has been successful in such type of matches.
“It’s not the first rematch [of my career]. They actually say I’m the king of rematch, I do rematch with a lot of guys in ONE Championship, most especially in flyweight. They say victory is sweeter the second time around. So I guess I usually win rematch fights because I have a better feel of my opponent and develop and adjust faster than them,” said Mr. Eustaquio, who won his most recent fight in January in a rematch against former flyweight champion Kairat Akhmetov of Russia by unanimous decision, in the process avenging a previous loss to the latter.
The interim champion further shared that the preparation is the same for him for rematches and firsttime opponents.
“The training is basically the same. We kick, we roll, we wrestle, do conditioning. The very important thing for this fight is that training camp is a full camp and I am enjoying every minute of it. The training is tough but I’m with the best. I’m with the best team in the world. They always have my back. Every minute we are enjoying it,” he said.
The unification bout between Messrs. Eustaquio and Moraes will be played with the ONE world women’s strawweight title fight between reigning champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan of China and challenger Laura “La Gladiadora” Balin of Argentina as the headlining feature.
Also seeing action at Pinnacle of Power are Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly and Danny “The King” Kingad, who are teammates with Mr. Eustaquio at Team Lakay. —