Igorot Geje Eustaquio knocks out Tauro with a beautiful spinning back kick

Photo Courtesy || One Championship

Cordillera - Former ONE Flyweight Champion Geje Eustaquio of Team Lakay is back following an impressive win against Finnish fighter Toni Tauro on ONE: Master of Fate at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The former champ delivered a powerful spinning back kick to the right side of Tauro causing the latter to undergo a body shutdown and fall to the canvas. 

"I was inspired by Kevin with that turning back kick. We keep on repeating [that technique] inside the gym", Eustaquio told Mitch.

Eustaquio dedicated his fight to his son who inspired him to pick himself up and continue fighting.

READ ALSO:  Team Lakay's Joshua Pacio Submits Rene Catalan in Round Two

"I would like to dedicate this fight to my son who is my motivation, to Rose, my coach Mark and to all my brothers and sisters in Team Lakay, and to all Filipinos who came out to witness this historic event," Eustaquio added.

He also dedicated his victory to the people of Mindanao who suffered from the recent devastating earthquake.

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Team Lakay's Geje Eustaquio is back after defeating South Korean foe in Singapore

Photo Courtesy || Team Lakay

Cordillera - Former ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje Eustaquio is back after defeating South Korea's Kyu Sung Kim via unanimous decision in the undercard of One Championship: Enter the Dragon in Singapore. 

The taller and much younger Kim was schooled by the former Team Lakay champion in the first and second round. Eustaquio put pressure to Kim in the first two rounds with perfect kicks and counter-punches. 

Eustaquio made a big score when he caught the younger fighter with a right back-spinning punch straight to his right  face. Eustaquio mastered the art of counter punching and capitalized his short height to effectively skip from the counters of Kim. 

The 3rd round had put Geje in a difficult situation when Kim connected some clean and hard punches. Nevertheless, his determination to win the fight prevailed. He then decided to go toe to toe with his opponent and connected some punches of his own with a take down near the end.

The judges who scored the bout give Eustaquio the winning decision. Winning the bout is a first step for Eustaquio to getting back to being a world champion again. 

As being recalled, Geje lost his title to Brazilian fighter Adriano Moraes when they faced for the 3rd time in Manila this year. 

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Cordilera's Team Lakay Champions recognized at the Senate

Photo Courtesy || Eduard Folayang FB

Cordillera - Members of the Team Lakay are now the talk of the town and earlier paid a visit to the Philippine Senate and spend time with some of the senators.

In a photo shared by ONE World Lightweight Champion Eduard Folayang, he and ONE Bantamweight Champion Kevin Belingon, ONE Flyweight Champion Geji Eustaquio, ONE Strawweight Champion Joshua Pacio,  Brave Combat Federation Champion Stephen Loman and Coach Mark Sangiao posed a photo with the senators.

With their individual ONE Belt hanging on their shoulders, the Cordilleran warriors proudly joined the senators in a photo shoot headed by Senate President Sotto along with Eight Division World Champion Manny Pacquiao, Migz Zubiri, former Senate president Pimentel and others.

Team Lakay Champions also posed with their cup of coffee at the senate house.

Photo Courtesy || Eduard Folayang

Last December 2, the city government of Baguio organized a "Parade of Champions" to honor Team Lakay dedication to the sport.

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The igorot warriors that bring Philippine MMA to the world's spotlight

Photo Courtesy || Team Lakay Official FB

Cordillera - No one could ever disagree with the words of ONE Championship CEO and chairman Chatri Sidyodthong that Team Lakay is the number one team in the world. Team Lakay's success in the MMA arena is collectively worked out by the Igorot martial artists who dedicated lots of their time and effort in this particular sport. For them, martial arts is a passion they love doing. It's a career that is fulfilling and a sport they care about and are willing to share to others.

Their dedication to the sport has been  rewarded abundantly. This year is a great milestone for them as they took home five world championship belts in different weight classes; four under the banner of ONE championship and one under Brave Combat Federation. 

Eduard "The Landslide Folayang" just recently became ONE Lightweight World Champion last November  23, 2018. 

Kevin "The Silencer" Belingon became the ONE Bantamweight World Champion early in November. 

Joshua Pacio became the ONE Strawweight World Champion in September.

While Geje Eustaquio became the undisputed ONE Flyweight World Champion in June.

Stephen Loman on the other hand, became Brave Bantamweight World Champion. 

Yes, it's five world championship belts that they had taken and brought home to the Philippines. 

These are the Igorot heroes that brought the Philippines Mixed Martial Arts to the world's spotlight. Because of them,  Philippines is now known to have the best mixed martial artist in the world. 

The successful journey of Team Lakay from its humble beginning up to becoming the number one team in the world is a product of teamwork and humility. 

As Eduard Folayang - the newly crowned world lightweight champion said, " We help each other so that we can be able to have these belts." 

To honor the big contribution of the legendary martial arts heroes and the champs of Team Lakay, the city government of Baguio organized the "Parade of Champions" on December 2, 2018.

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Geje Eustaquio Rewarded the Undisputed ONE Flyweight World Champion

 Photo courtesy: https://onefc.com

Geje "Gravity" Eustaquio, a young wushu artist who is a native of Baguio City and one among those representing the Team Lakay earned the crown as the undisputed ONE Flyweight World Championship with a split decision victory from his old Brazilian opponent Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes last Saturday, 23 June at the Studio City Event Center in Macau.

It was indeed an impressive redemption after four years  back  in the ring with his old rival when he lost the match in just two rounds by guillotine choke submission, without having the chance to show his skills, during the inaugural ONE Flyweight World Championship last September 2014.

During the match however, while “Mikinho”  showcased his jiu-jitsu expertise and his thrilling BJJ skills, "Gravity" on the other hand, displayed his improved ground game and took it far till the fifth and final round, with everything up for grabs. The victory was within reach for both of them as the championship rounds approached. But  in the end, Eustaquio earned the split decision victory and won the undisputed ONE Flyweight World Championship title.

Being the champion, he  exclaimed that “The feeling is awesome. I want to thank all my kababayan (Filipino countrymen) here who came out to support me” in his post-about interview with Mitch Chilson.

“I came to Macau with one vision, and that is to unify the Flyweight World Titles, and I know I was not capable of doing this alone. I want to thank God, Team Lakay, and of course my family. And to all the fans, thank you so much for the undying support”, he added.

 Following his epic win, the victorious Igorot  " Gravity" said to the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, when I started 14 years ago, this was impossible. But now, after 14 years, impossible is not a word — it is just a reason,” 

As for those aspiring athletes, take it from Geje "Gravity" Eustaquio and be inspired with his words when he said that  “Anybody can be a world champion, as long as you have the drive and the attitude. I am proud to be the undisputed ONE Flyweight World Champion this time.”

Watch full movie fight below:

Article Source: Onefc.com

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Jeje Eustaquio wins new Interim flyweight belt in One Championship

Photo Courtesy of One Championship

Cordillera - Team Lakay's Geje Eustaquio has proven to the world he is the better fighter as he delivered superb techniques to dominate and defeat Kairat Akhmetov of Kazakhstan to win the ONE Championship interim flyweight title at the Mall of Asia Arena last night. 

The Igorot superb striking power and impressive ground defense worked in his advantage against the Kazakh's known take-down power. 

In their first meet up last September, Eustaquio lost in a split-decision but last night was a crystal clear unanimous victory which led him to his next opponent, the ONE undisputed flyweight champion Adriano Moraes. 

Eustaquio now joined the list of Filipino ONE champions who hold MMA world titles like heavy weight champion Brandon Vera.

"This belt is not mine, but it's ours. I'm proud to represent this flag, this country," said Eustaquio. 

He also called on ONE regular flyweight king Adriano Moraes, who was also among the audiences on the venue to give him another chance of fighting him. 

"Give me one more try, Adriano. I'll give you a better fight this time," Eustaquio said. 

In which Adriano responded, "Geje really deserved it tonight. I have too much respect for this guy. I'd like to do it again.".

Another Pinoy and proud Igorot Joshua Pacio, won an stunning performance last night, submitting Sanda champion Lan Ming Qiang with a head choke in the first round. 

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