Eugene Toquero hungry to get back on the winning track at ONE event in Myanmar
HAVING lost his last three fights in ONE Championship, flyweight Eugene Toquero is now more than ever hungry to get back on the winning track. That is the kind of mind-set he has as he makes his way back to the mixed martial arts cage in Yangon, Myanmar, later this week.
Part of the undercard for “ONE: Hero’s Dream” on Nov. 3 at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium, 36-yearold Toquero clashes with Ma Hao Bin of China, eyeing to put up a stop to his string of losses and get himself back in the mix of “weighty” fighters in his division in Asia’s largest sports media property.
Entering his fight on Friday, Mr. Toquero ( 8- 5), who made his ONE debut in 2013, lost to Indonesian Stefer Rahardian by unanimous decision here in Manila no less in April.
Prior to that, he bowed to now-flyweight champion Adriano Moraes (submission) and compatriot Danny Kingad (submission) in March and December 2016, respectively.
The three-fight losing streak has Mr. Toquero evaluating himself as a fighter, more so now that competition in ONE has become stiffer with the advent of more quality fighters from different parts of the world.
“I have made adjustments [to my game]. I train longer and harder now. I don’t want to be complacent because I am not getting any younger. This is a huge organization with a lot of very good martial artists from all over the world,” said Mr. Toquero in the lead- up to his return fight.
“I will give my best in this bout. I will leave everything on the line,” he added.
Looking to add on the woes of Mr. Toquero, meanwhile, is Mr. Ma (7-1), dubbed “The Southern Eagle,” who in his last fight in ONE in September submitted compatriot “The Wolf Of The Grasslands” Hexigetu by way of a guillotine choke, with 10 seconds remaining in round number two.
Despite the imposing challenge presented by the 23-yearold Ma, Mr. Toquero remains undeterred believing that his experience will show him the way to the victory.
“If my opponent does not train well, I will give it to him inside the cage. I am hungry for that win,” he said.
“This time, I will make sure that my hand is raised as the winner. I am not going home with a loss on Nov. 3,” Mr. Toquero added.
Apart from Mr. Toquero, other Filipinos seeing action in the ONE Yangon event are strawweight Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado against Thai Pongsiri Mitsatit, featherweight Burn “The Hitman” Soriano versus Chinese Chen Lei, and female atomweight Jomary Torres against Indonesian Nita Dea.
ONE: Hero’s Dream is headlined by the title fight between ONE middleweight world champion and hometown bet Aung La N Sang against challenger Alain “The Panther” Ngalani. —