Pinoy MMA bet Eustaquio loses ONE FC flyweight title bid

Adriano Moraes derailed Geje Eustaquio’s title aspirations as the Brazilian combatant submitted the Filipino fighter to capture the inaugural ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) flyweight belt in the “Rise of the Kingdom” event headliner on Friday night, September 12 at the 4,200-seater Koh Pich Theatre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Although Eustaquio had the clear stand-up leverage over the 25-year-old submission specialist, Moraes found a way to counteract his opponent’s striking prowess in the second round, where he forced the 5-foot-5 Team Lakay representative to wave the white flag courtesy of a guillotine choke.

Despite his struggle to find his range due to his foe’s constant lateral movement in the first frame, Moraes tried to delve into Eustaquio’s bread-and-butter, ending up receiving inside knees from the Pinoy stalwart after an attempt to score a single-leg takedown.

Although he initially showed glimpse of respect to Eustaquio’s striking ability, the man known as “Black Diamond” opted to stand toe-to-toe in the second stanza as both men traded wild punches.

Eustaquio was able to land with his signature kicks and a sharp counter right, but Moraes replied with a well-timed left hook off a missed flying knee.

Moraes was able to put Eustaquio on wobbly legs with two hard right hands in quick succession before dumping his cage counterpart with a double-leg takedown.

While on the ground, the 5-foot-8 native of Brazil immediately latched on a deep guillotine hold, leaving Eustaquio with no other choice but to tap.

With the victory over Eustaquio, Moraes crowns himself as the first king of ONE FC’s 125-pound weight class and improves his mixed martial arts (MMA) record to 12-1.

Meanwhile, Eustaquio downgrades his win-loss card to 6-3 and snaps his two-fight winning streak since his disappointing setback to Andrew Leone in May 2013.

In addition, the Baguio City-based Wushu practitioner failed to accomplish the goal to be second Filipino MMA competitor and Team Lakay standout to win a world title in the sport. – Rappler.com