Filipino mixed martial artists Jean Claude Saclag and Gina Iniong-Araos nabbed gold medals in the 4th Asian MMA Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Sunday, May 24.
Saclag defeated Zhussupov Chingiz of Kazakhstan via first round knockout to top the men’s traditional MMA -65 kilogram class while Araos dominated Tomoe Katayama of Japan to rule the women’s modern MMA -54kg class.
Saclag, a ONE championship standout, blasted Chingiz with a booming counter left then unleashed a barrage of hammer fists before the referee stopped the assault as Chingiz was out of bounds.
Still, Chingiz absorbed enough damage to not be able to stand up again as the referee halted the bout with still 2:37 left in the opening round.
Meanwhile, Araos displayed superb striking skills, landing big hits while also fending off repeated takedown attempts from her Japanese opponent.
A knee to the face of Katayama allowed Araos to position herself for a ground and pound and take control of the contest right on the first round.
The victory should be a big boost for the Philippine Mixed Martial Arts team as the tournament serves as a qualifier for the Nagoya Asian Games and Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.
Aside from the two, also finishing at the podium were Stephen Loman, Whinny Bayawon and Ma. Aisa Ratcliff.
Loman bagged the bronze men’s traditional MMA -71kg class while Bayawon had the same medal in the men’s modern MMA -56kg division. Ratcliff, likewise, took home a bronze in the women’s traditional MMA -54kg.
