Eight years after submitting Catalan, Alex Silva warns Filipino of his improved striking game

Fresh
off
a
victory
over
Miao
Li
Tao,
the
former
World
Champion
takes
on
Filipino
Rene
“The
Challenger”
Catalan
at
the
previously
recorded
ONE:
NEXTGEN
III
this
Friday,
26
November
–
a
rematch
eight
years
in
the
making.

Both
athletes
faced
off
at
ONE:
KINGS
&
CHAMPIONS
in
April
2013.
The
fight
was
Silva’s
third
MMA
appearance,
and
it
marked
Catalan’s
debut
in
the
all-encompassing
sport.
It
was
also
a
clash
between
two
World
Champions
–
Silva,
a
BJJ
World
Champion,
and
Catalan,
a
Wushu
World
Champion.

The
fight
came
to
a
quick
conclusion
when
Silva
forced
Catalan
to
tap
via
armbar
at
4:34
of
the
first
round.

“It
was
a
short
fight.
I
was
able
to
finish
the
fight
in
the
first
round,”
Silva
said.

“I
just
started
very
aggressively
with
my
grappling,
pressured
him
against
his
defense,
took
him
down,
[and]
controlled
him
on
the
ground
a
little
bit.
And
I
kind
of
backed
up
and
I
was
able
to
take
him
down,
take
his
back,
and
get
an
armbar
submission.”

Silva
believes
that
Catalan
has
improved
in
that
time,
and
admits
his
arsenal
is
far
more
complete
too.

“Definitely,
both
of
us
are
completely
different
fighters
now,”
he
said.

“In
my
mind,
we
were
kind
of
like
white
belts
in
MMA
when
we
first
fought,
but
we
improved
a
lot.
Of
course,
he
has
improved
a
lot.
His
grappling,
his
wrestling,
and
his
striking
are
outstanding,
but
I
improved
a
lot
too.
I
can
strike
now.”

This
time
around,
Silva
knows
a
victory
against
“The
Challenger”
will
not
come
easy.
He
will
have
to
earn
it
against
his
42-year-old
rival.
But
at
the
same
time,
Silva
wants
to
maintain
his
spot
as
the
#4-ranked
athlete
in
the
strawweight
division,
and,
if
possible,
would
love
to
climb
up
the
rankings
with
a
solid
win
over
Catalan.

“Little
Rock”
holds
a
huge
advantage
over
Catalan
in
the
grappling
department,
and
his
striking
has
improved
while
at
Evolve
MMA
in
Singapore.

He
now
wants
to
unleash
a
memorable
performance,
and
despite
the
eight-year
gap
since
their
last
fight,
he
is
still
confident
that
his
grappling
will
get
the
job
done
against
the
much-evolved
Catalan
inside
the
Singapore
Indoor
Stadium
this
Friday.

“Like
I
said,
back
to
when
we
fought
for
the
first
time,
I
couldn’t
strike
well.
I
couldn’t
even
strike.
I
[was]
just
like
100
percent
pure
grappling.
Now,
I
feel
that
I
can
stay
more
on
the
feet
if
I
have
to
and
use
my
grappling,”
he
said.

“I
think
God
knows
what’s
going
to
happen,
but
I
predict
a
submission
in
the
second
round.”

Fans
in
India
can
watch
ONE:
NEXTGEN
III
on
Disney+
Hotstar
or
Star
Sports
Select
2
at
6
p.m.
India
Standard
Time
(IST)
on
Friday,
26
November.
Alternatively,
download
the
ONE
Super
App
to
catch
all
the
action.

Source:
Media
Release