ONE: Gina Iniong charting another path to the top
HAD it roller-coaster in her last three fights in ONE Championship, Filipino women’s atomweight fighter Gina “Conviction” Iniong aims to reestablish consistency in winning when she takes the cage anew with the end view of throwing herself back in the mix for a title shot.
Lost in her last fight in July last year against Brazilian Nuñes by unanimous decision, Ms. Iniong (7-4) of Team Lakay saw her attempt to rise back in the division derailed.
After opening her ONE career with back-to-back wins, Ms. Iniong has gone 1-2 after, something she hopes to improve on when she takes on Jihin Radzuan of Malaysia at “ONE: Clash of Legends” happening on Feb. 16 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ms. Iniong, fighting out of Baguio City, Benguet, said her last three fights had taught her a lot in how she should approach every outing and is aiming for a convincing victory.
“They can expect an aggressive and determined Gina Iniong come fight night,” said Ms. Iniong of her upcoming fight.
“Anything can happen in a fight. All I can say is I don’t want the fight to go to the judges’ scorecards,” she added.
While she had to endure some setbacks in her MMA career of late, the six-time Philippine wushu champion said her drive to be finally crowned world champion in her division is still alive and she remains determined to achieve it.
“I am still hoping to get a shot at the ONE women’s atomweight world title and fight [reigning champion] Angela Lee [of Singapore],” Ms. Iniong shared.
Adding, “One of my dreams is to challenge her because I want to become a world champion.”
Zeroing in on her fight with Ms. Radzuan (4-0), the Filipino fighter said she is trying to cover all bases to churn out a great performance.
She has been training hard with her stable mate at Team Lakay, pushing herself to the limits.
“I am working doubly hard in training by pushing myself to the limits. I follow my coaches’ advice in every turn. We focused on my weaknesses in training and gave a lot of time on my ground game,” she said.
“My last fight made me realize that I have so many techniques to improve and develop. I am coming with everything to have my hand raised in Bangkok,” Ms. Iniong furthered.
Ms. Iniong also said that she hopes to get a favorable result in Thailand for her team after seeing Team Lakay stalwarts Joshua Pacio and Geje Eustaquio lose their ONE Championship world titles in succession in January.
ONE: Clash of Legends is headlined by the Super Series Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championship battle between hometown bet Nong-O Gaiyanghadao and Chinese Han Zi Hao. —