Team Lakay’s Gina “Conviction” Iniong pulled of her biggest victory MMA so far by dealing her previously unbeaten foe her first MMA career defeat.
Jihin Radzuan absorbed the first dent of her young MMA career from Iniong in a women’s atomweight bout in the main card of ONE: Clash of Legends held February 16, 2019 at the Impact Arena, Bangkok, Thailand via a split decision.
The “Conviction” capitalized on a fast start and warded off a late surge by her Malaysian opponent to secure the win.
Iniong drew first blood in the opening salvo by letting her fists fly and her punches found their target. She would later took the fight to the ground and was in full control when the battle was there.
When action eventually went back to a striking contest, Iniong picked up where she left off earlier in the round as she continued to deliver the blows and underhooks.
The second round took a similar pattern. Iniong struck first and defused attempts by the “Shadow Cat” to take her to the mat.
The action would eventually shift to the ground but it was Iniong who was on top and taking side control.
The final round begun just like the first two, with Iniong raining the blows.
For the first time, however, Radzuan was successful in bringing Iniong to the ground. She then scrambled into mount and then took the back as the Team Lakay mainstay scrambled to defend herself from ground and pound.
Unable to secure the submission, Radzuan tried to rain blows but Iniong protected herself from major damage and did not leave any room for a submission as the final seconds ticked away to earn the decision
Iniong is coming off a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Istela Nunes in her last fight before this bout last July 7, 2018.
Iniong decked the 25-year-old Brazilian with a counter punch late first round but couldn’t stop Nunes thereafter as she recovered and rained continuous connection of punches and kicks to get the nod of the judges.
Iniong improved her career fight record to 8-4, recovering from losing two of her last three outings. She also improves her shot at contending for the women’s atomweight title
On the other hand, Radzuan dropped to 4-1. Three of her first four victories came inside a ONE ring.
Iniong also puts a halt to the string of losses that her gym, Team Lakay, suffered to start the year.
The famed Cordillera gym fighters could only come out with one victory in its first five bouts this year, courtesy of Danny Kingad on January 25.
Joshua Pacio and Geje Eustaquio yielded two of the four tiles Team Lakay won last year in consecutive ONE events last month.
During a post game interview, Iniong dedicated her win and her performance to her ailing mother, who was earlier diagnosed to be suffering from chronic kidney disease.
By: ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS
Banner photo by: ONE Championship
