FORMER ONE Championship world flyweight champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio marked his fight return with a victory, dominating South Korean Kim Sung Kyu in their matchup on May 17 at “ONE: Enter the Dragon” in Singapore.
Coming off a split decision loss in January that saw him loss his title to Brazilian Adriano Moraes, Mr. Eustaquio (12-7) of Team Lakay fought with drive and determination right from the opening bell and took the fight to the taller and younger Kim on his way to the unanimous decision victory.
Mr. Eustaquio, 30, used his superior striking and impeccable head movement to outpoint his Korean opponent in the first two rounds. Mr. Kim tried to rally back in the final round, but his comeback came a little too late, as the Filipino was awarded the decision win after three rounds.
The victory put Mr. Eustaquio in position as an alternate in the ongoing ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix and a step forward to his goal of claiming the division title anew.
After the win, Mr. Eustaquio said it is the beginning of his journey back and thank God and his supporters and team for serving as a driving force in his fight return.
Also emerging victorious at Enter the Dragon was hometown bet Christian Lee who beat lightweight champion Shinya Aoki of Japan by way of technical knockout in the second round to become the new king of the division.
The 20-year-old Lee joined sister Angela, the reigning women’s atomweight champ, as ONE champion.
Not so lucky, meanwhile, was Filipino Richard Corminal who lost by submission (rear-naked choke) in the first round to lightweight Rahul Raju of India. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
