Trinidad taps Benibe for second ONE stint
FILIPINA warrior Rome Trinidad will walk to the ONE Championship cage on Saturday, May 12 with a mixed martial arts legend by her side.
Andrew Benibe, a household name in the established local mixed martial arts scene in the Philippines, will be part of the entourage of Trinidad as she is scheduled to square off with hometown hero Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol on the undercard of ONE: Grit and Glory in Jakarta, Indonesia.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for a young and dedicated cage competitor like Trinidad when she yielded to Thai standout Rika Ishige in her promotional debut this past December.
Trinidad suffered a second-round submission loss to Ishige at ONE: Warriors of the World in the Thai dynamo’s homebase of Bangkok, failing to ace her maiden assignment under the ONE Championship banner.
Although the thrilling atomweight bout against Ishige put fans at the state-of-the-art Impact Arena on the edge of their seats, Trinidad was left disappointed with the outcome of the match.
“I believe that I could have done better in that match, but I came up short. I just realized that there was something missing,” she admitted.
“It was my first time to fight internationally, and I lost. It gave me motivation to keep going, get better, and be more aggressive. Most of all, it taught me to be humble in all aspects of my life,” Trinidad added.
The submission defeat to Ishige forced Trinidad to reassess on how she handles her training camp when she prepares for an upcoming bout.
TALISAY City, Negros Occidental — Only one team from Mindanao has remained standing in the semis of the NOFA Cup U13 Invitational after the Cotabato boys of the Mt. Apo Regional Football Association (MARFA) survived the Blue Brothers of Ateneo de Manila University, 7-4, in a thrilling quarter final match at the Sta. Maria field here.
Semis Schedule: Dynamic FC vs Green Global; MARFA vs One La Salle
The other Mindanao quarterfinalists Golden Harvest FC of Valencia, Bukidnon and Davao Grassroots team lost to separate opponents to earn early tickets for trips back home.
Golden Harvest rallied in the second half but came up short as the boys of coach Greg Ramos bowed to a highly technical and skillful One La Salle team, 3-2. The One La Salle team is made up of players from La Salle Zobel and La Salle Greenhills in Manila.
Davao Grassroots on the other hand was no match to the powerhouse and host Dynamic FC, 5-0, while Green Global, the second and younger team of the Negros Occidental Football Association (NOFA) upset the highly touted LGU Barotac Nuevo in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw during regular time.
Dynamic FC and and their younger brothers, Green Global will clash in the first semis match while MARFA and One La Salle will play in the other semis match. Winners will play in the championship while losers will battle for third place.
The Cotabato boys of Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president and M’Lang mayor Joselito Piñol relied on the brilliance of Almaigne Kurt Sarip in the dying minutes to beat the hard fighting Ateneo kids.
Sarip, son of coach Samuel Sarip of Kidapawan City, North Cotabato, wowed the crowd with his brilliant moves and booming shots that produced two goals in the dying minutes that saved the day for MARFA.