By Adrian Stewart Co

Ilonggo mixed martial arts fighter Rene Catalan recently scored a first round submission win over former strawweight world champion Yoshitaka Naito during the ONE Championship event ONE: Reign of Valor in Yangon, Myanmar.

The victory, which was the Santa Barbara native’s sixth consecutive win, puts him in ONE FC world title contention.

“Definitely, this [was] the toughest and biggest match of my career,” said Catalan. “I knew Naito [was] a former world champion, well-experienced, and dangerous on the mat.”

“I really studied his moves well,” he added.

The win, which came at the 4:32 mark of the opening round, leaves the 40-year-old Ilonggo with a 6-2 win-loss record./ASC, WDJ