Jeremy Miado, Robin Catalan disappointed in ONE Championship: Heavy Hitters pullout

Jeremy Miado and Robin Catalan have been pulled off the ONE Championship: Heavy Hitters fight card. Both fighters have been removed due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols and won't be competing this Friday, January 14 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Miado was scheduled to face Senzo Ikeda and aimed to ride the momentum from winning back-to-back contests against Miao Li Tao. His return to the ring will take a back seat as he tries to see the silver lining from the situation.

"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."

Meanwhile, Robin Catalan was really hoping to step inside the ONE Championship cage and take on Indonesian fighter Ryuto Sawada. It was a bout that his entire stable at Catalan Fighting System was looking forward to since the gym struggled to make ends meet during the pandemic. On the withdrawal, Cataln said:

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

"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."

Both Filipino fighters once faced each other back in April 2017, with Robin Catalan earning a split decision victory over the debuting Jeremy Miado.

Senzo Ikeda fights Elipitua Siregar at ONE Championship: Heavy Hitters

With Robin Catalan and Jeremy Miado both pulled from the fight card, their opponents, Senzo Ikeda and Elipitua Siregar, will maximize the opportunity. The pair are now slated to be competing against each other.

39-year-old Ikeka has a professional fighting record of 11-5. This will be his fourth fight in ONE Championship. He picked up his first win in the organization against Hui Liang back in December 2020. Prior to that, he lost his first two matches against Filipino fighters Danny Kingad and Lito Adiwang.

Siregar, meanwhile, started his professional MMA career in ONE and has only lost once in five bouts. After tasting defeat against Penshuai Liu, 'Dragon Boy' was able to bounce back with a first-round submission victory over Eka Aprilianto way back in October 2019.

Both fighters will be looking to pick up where they left off when they return to the ONE ring.

About the author

Ernest Leo Hernandez is a sports journalist who covers NBA at Sportskeeda and had a two-year stint covering MMA. As a former college basketball player with over 13 years of experience as a writer, Ernest's connection to the sport is deeply rooted.

In addition to writing, Ernest is an established sports radio personality and has been a sports commentator for various sports in the Philippines. He holds a BSBA in Marketing Management, owns the YouTube channel 'Sports On Air,' which has over 100k subscribers.

His favorite NBA team, the Detroit Pistons, embodies the gritty and tenacious approach to basketball that he admires. He loved how they ended the Shaq/Kobe Era through an underdog mentality and with no NBA All-Stars in 2004.

Ernest has conducted interviews with numerous basketball personalities like Paul George, Dwight Howard, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Lamar Odom, Muggsy Bogues, Ray Allen, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Bruce Brown, George Hill, Frank Vogel, Steven Adams, Gary Payton, Jeremy Lin, Kevin McHale, Matthew Dellavedova, Rip Hamilton, the late NBA Commissioner David Stern, to name a few.

Ernest strives to make reading easily digestible by deep research and ensuring that the information presented is verified.

In his free time, he does sports commentary and radio broadcasting on the side. A dog parent who considers them like his own kids.

Know More

Follow One Championship News, Schedule & Results at Sportskeeda.

Edited by Harvey Leonard