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Rene Catalan is set to fight again in ONE Championship and he will be pitted against an old foe in Alex Silva. Both fighters are set to meet inside the cage at ONE: NextGen III on November 26th at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Catalan and Silva battled each other way back in April 2013. The Brazilian fighter ended the fight in the first round, submitting Catalan with a kneebar at the 4:34 mark.
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Since then, the two competitors became good friends and have formed a great bond. They would support each other moving forward in their MMA careers but fate has intertwined their roads once again. The two fighters have the same goal as they prepare to battle it out for a title shot in ONE Championship.
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"When they offered me to fight Alex, we have already formed a good friendship since battling in 2013. He supports my fight and I support his. We became good friends," Catalan said to Sportskeeda. "Alex is being worked out by ONE Championship to get another title shot and the same thing with me. We both want to get back at the rankings."
As a 42-year-old veteran martial artist, Catalan knows that he has to set aside his friendship with Silva and fight his fight when the cage door shuts.
'We're always chatting and I always wished he'd get another title shot someday. I really admire his BJJ skills. ONE told me that I have to fight whoever they put in front of me. It was fine when they offered to fight Alex. Let us have a good fight," said Catalan.
Giving him the spark on his winning streak in ONE Championship
Rene Catalan is at the tail end of his MMA career and there was a point in ONE Championship where he won six consecutive bouts. The founder of the Catalan Fighting System credits his past match with Alex Silva for helping him find his groove.
It was Catalan's first fight in ONE Championship. It took him one draw and one defeat before getting a hang of competing in MMA.
"When I lost to him, I became hungry to fix my ground game and also my training condition," said Catalan. "He also improved his striking and wrestling while also adding a good fighting experience. It is the same with me."
'The Challenger' walks into this fight with Silva carrying a 6-4 professional record with the hopes of snapping his back-to-back losing skid. His last two losses were against reigning ONE Championship strawweight titleholder Joshua Pacio and the most recent was against Bokang Masunyane.
