MMA News: Jeremy Miado, Robin Catalan Sidelined From ONE: Heavy Hitters

Filipino standouts Robin Catalan and Jeremy Miado will not be a part of the upcoming ONE: Heavy Hitters card on Friday, January 14 after testing positive for COVID-19.

Combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano first broke the news of both men's withdrawal on Wednesday, January 12 through his Twitter account.

Miado had been looking forward to extending his winning streak in his upcoming fight against Senzo Ikeda.

Training with Marrok Force MMA in Thailand, Miado was confident in having the speed advantage over Ikeda when they meet in the ring for the opening fight of the main card.

“We prepared for every aspect of this upcoming fight, especially cardio and wrestling, and then working on countering his strikes because he enjoys trading punches throughout a fight,” Miado said during a virtual media press call last Friday, January 7.

The same goes for his countryman in Catalan.

The 31-year-old from Iloilo City, Philippines was looking forward to facing Indonesia’s Elipitua Siregar in the opening fight of the lead card.

“This fight is important for me because my older brother [Rene Catalan] lost in his last fight and I want to get this win for him and for my team. Because of the pandemic, we haven’t really been able to train that well, but I really hope I can get this win so we can bounce back from the losses,” Catalan in the same media call with Miado.

His camp, Catalan Fighting System Philippines, had been struggling to put together a winning streak and it was his main motivation to bring home the victory over Siregar.

As a result, Ikeda and Siregar will now be facing each other at the event on Friday.

However, the Filipinos’ fights are not the only ones to be removed from the card.

The ONE light heavyweight kickboxing title fight between champion Roman Kryklia and Murat Aygun has been scratched for the second time due to Aygun being placed in COVID-19 protocols.

Saemapetch Fairtex’s Muay Thai bout against Tawanchai P.K. Saenchaimuaythaigym has been bumped to the co-main even spot in light of Aygun’s situation.

MMA icon Yushin Okami and Leandro Ataides’ middleweight MMA bout has also been removed from the card following Ataides contracting the virus.

Lastly, the Muay Thai tilt between Elias Mahmoudi and Walter Goncalves is also off the card after both fighters failed to pass ONE Championship’s COVID-19 testing.

Despite the removed fights, ONE: Heavy Hitters is still set to have a night filled with finishes as ONE women’s strawweight queen Xiong Jing Nan will defend her title against Ayaka Miura in the main event along with the lightweight match between James Nakashima and Saygid Izagakhmaev.

ONE: Heavy Hitters will be streaming live on the ONE Super App and official ONE Championship YouTube channel at 8:30 PM SGT (7:30 AM ET in the United States).