ONE: HEAVY HITTERS devoid of Pinoy fighters

Jeremy Miado

Much to the chagrin of Filipino mixed martial arts fans, COVID-19 health and safety protocols have taken out the two Filipinos set to take part in the upcoming mixed martial arts event of ONE Championship.

Strawweight fighters Jeremy Miado and Robin Catalan have been ruled out from their respective matchups at the ONE: HEAVY HITTERS slated to take place on Friday, January 14, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Miado was scheduled to face Senzo Ikeda, while Catalan had been slated to go up against Elipitua Siregar.

Jeremy was seeking his third straight victory and eleventh overall, fresh from a second round technical knockout victory over Miao Li Tao last October at ONE: NEXTGEN. The result is the benefits of his training with Marrok Force MMA in Bangkok, and ensured his entry into ONE's strawweight rankings.

He shared his thoughts about the decision. "I believe this happened for a reason. Yes, it's unfortunate that as an athlete, all of our efforts in training camp went to waste. But I believe God has His own plans."

Robin Catalan

Robin would have been coming off a year-long layoff after forcing to tap out against Ryuto Sawada at ONE: UNBREAKABLE III. He had been hoping to bounce back with a victory not only for himself but also for the Catalan Fighting System.

Catalan shares, "This is a sad news because I was really ready for this match and I was excited to head back to the ONE Circle and get the win. Unfortunately, we have to take this news and go back home, but we promise that once everything is ok, I'll go back to train to be able to fight again."

As a result of these events, Ikeda will face off against Siregar in a strawweight matchup in the main card.

The protocols have also forced the cancellation of the co-main event; the ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World title fight between Roman Kryklia and Murat Aygun.

In spite of these, ONE: HEAVY Hitters still packs a punch, with the main event being Xiong Jing Nan defending her ONE Women's Strawweight title against Ayaka Miura.

Other main matches include a Muay Thai duel between Saemapetch and Tawanchai, as well as James Nakashima taking on Saygid Izagakhmaev in a lightweight scrap.