Filipino Strawweight Contenders Joshua Pacio and Rene Catalan Seemingly on a Collision Course

Wazzup Pilipinas!

ONE: REIGN OF KINGS last 27 July at the SM Mall of Asia Arena proved to be a good night for the Filipino mixed martial artists that showcased their talents on the stacked card. 

Capped off by Team Lakay’s Kevin ‘The Silencer’ Belingon capturing the ONE Interim Bantamweight World Championship, the Filipino contingent went for a perfect 4-0 sweep on the night, which also included victories from former ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard ‘Landslide’ Folayang, as well as a couple of strawweight contenders in Joshua ‘The Passion’ Pacio and Rene ‘D’Challenger’ Catalan. 

With Pacio and Catalan both riding respective winning streaks, it now appears that the two Filipino strawweight contenders are on a collision course on their way to the ONE Strawweight World Championship, currently held by Japan’s Yoshitaka ‘Nobita’ Naito. 

Naito is on his second run as ONE Strawweight Word Champion after regaining the title from Alex ‘Little Rock’ Silva at ONE: GRIT AND GLORY in Jakarta back in May. 

Also competing out of the famed Team Lakay stable in Baguio City, the 22-year old Pacio has built for himself a nice three-match winning streak, with all three victories coming by way of stoppage, with the most recent being a first-round submission win over Thailand’s Pongsiri Mitsatit. 

While he says he’s ready to get another opportunity to challenge Naito for the ONE Strawweight World Championship once more, Pacio says that’s not what he’s focused on.

“I’m not thinking of a title shot right now, but if ONE Championship decides to give it to me, of course I’ll grab it immediately.” Pacio explained. “Training doesn’t stop for me, so that when the call comes, I’m always ready.” 

39-year old Filipino mixed martial arts veteran Catalan on the other hand, hasn’t tasted defeat since 2014. 

The Catalan Fighting System Philippines founder is on an impressive five-match winning streak of his own, and his last victory was a dominant Unanimous Decision win over Stefer Rahardian, which marked the Indonesian’s first loss in nine professional bouts. 

Like Pacio, Catalan feels that he’s also ready for an opportunity to challenge for the ONE Strawweight World Championship. 

“Yes, I believe I’m ready. I have won five straight contests, and the competition has only gotten better and better. If ONE Championship gives me the opportunity, anytime I’m ready.” said Catalan. 

The Iloilo native, however, will be the first to admit that he still has a long way to go before becoming the top guy in the division, or at least being the next in line for a title shot. 

“I still have a lot of work to do, because I know that there are a handful of names that are ahead of me, but I will do my best to get through whoever ONE Championship puts in between me and a chance at a title shot.” 

The two Filipino strawweight contenders now find themselves in an interesting position, as they could easily be matched up against each other, with an opportunity to challenge for the world championship hanging in the balance. 

Pacio says that facing Catalan, someone he’s watched ever since he was a kid, would be nothing short of an honor. 

“If Sir Rene and I happen to get matched up together, it’s going to be a big privilege for me, as I get to test myself against one of the pioneers of mixed martial arts here in the Philippines.” 

“I’ve been watching Sir Rene since I was a kid. I watched him compete in the Asian Games.” Pacio added. 

Much like Pacio’s Team Lakay coaches in Folayang and Mark Sangiao, Catalan is a decorated Wushu practitioner and was a gold medalist for the Philippines in the 2006 Asian Games. 

Pacio may be significantly younger than Catalan, but he’s definitely more experienced in mixed martial arts, having more than twice as many bouts as Catalan, and against the top-tier of ONE Championship’s strawweight division. Pacio believes that it will play to his advantage. 

“I’ve faced the top contenders in our division, guys like the current champion Yoshitaka Naito, Hayato Suzuki, Dejdamrong Amnuaysirichoke, and Pongsiri Misatit. These guys are no joke. These guys are tough competition.” 

While Pacio sees a potential bout against Catalan as another opportunity, the latter isn’t as enthusiastic about facing a compatriot. 

“I know Team Lakay’s level, and I’m not worried about facing any one of them, but the thing is, I’d rather not face a fellow Filipino.” said Catalan. “Since 2003, I’ve been representing for the Philippines, and until now, I try to avoid having to compete against one of my countrymen.” 

“I’m not a businessman, I am a martial artist, and I have martial arts principles. I compete for the glory and honor of our country.” Catalan added.

Pacio acknowledges that there’s a big difference in facing a fellow Filipino compared to facing someone from another country, but for him, it’s really nothing personal, just competition. 

“There’s a big difference if you’re competing against a fellow Filipino, that’s your blood. Of course, it feels different.” Pacio said. “But in the end, we’re sportsmen, and this is just a test of skills and talents. If we do end up sharing the cage on our way to a title shot, then I would have no problems with that.” 

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.

IPC, CloudSigma Launch ‘instant’ Disaster Recovery Solution

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Companies now a few clicks away from protecting their business from disasters

Local cloud services pioneer IPC, together with its global Infrastructure-as-a-Service partner CloudSigma, recently launched its latest service offering that will allow companies to set up Disaster Recovery with just a few clicks and minimal configuration time.

“Given the disaster-prone nature of our country, it is a must for companies and organizations to create secure backups for their data. Our Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) powered by CloudSigma can be set up almost instantly, with only a few clicks via our online platform. With this, companies can replicate crucial data to our cloud and switch them into production immediately should an untoward incident compromise their systems,” said Niño R. Valmonte, Director for Marketing and Digital Innovation at IPC.

The service, which can be accessed by IPC’s clients through cloud.ipc.ph, allows users to replicate data and systems from other infrastructures or locations, and have these periodically synced to the cloud automatically. This seamless DRaaS system powered by CloudSigma provides an ideal business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) solution, enabling the IT department to easily switch production systems to a secure and stable cloud infrastructure during a disaster.

Using the cloud as part of a disaster recovery plan versus traditional physical infrastructure allows companies to avoid the capital expenditure needed to maintain hardware, instead relying on on-demand compute resources that can be easily accessed through the Internet. This reduces the cost of comprehensive disaster recovery solutions to a fraction of the former cost and allows more capital to be covered by such a solution including laptops, desktops, and other assets that are considered uneconomic to include in a disaster recovery plan.

“This Disaster Recovery solution can sync data not only from onsite premises and data centers but also between all existing and future CloudSigma locations. This is particularly relevant to enterprise customers who are running many deployments in different locations and want to utilize the full potential of cloud infrastructure,” said Robert Jenkins, CEO & Co-founder at CloudSigma.

A Swiss-based company, CloudSigma entered the Asian market through its partnership with IPC back in 2016 by integrating its services within IPC’s data center network. Clients who subscribe to IPC benefit from low latency, dedicated connectivity provided by CloudSigma, which is ideal for servicing critical IT workloads.

By combining the advantages provided by the cloud platform with strong networking and disaster recovery capabilities, customers can easily combine cloud-delivered storage and compute environments in conjunction with their existing infrastructure.

Unlike other cloud providers, IPC and CloudSigma craft custom end-to-end solutions for customers that directly service their needs and at a uniquely competitive price through a single billing relationship for hosting, cloud, and networking connectivity.

“We urge Philippine enterprises to be proactive in their BC/DR efforts. Through cloud-based Disaster Recovery, we eliminate high cost and complexity from the picture. This is high time for everyone to review their current systems and ensure that a secure and reliable backup and recovery plan is in place,” said Valmonte.

The new service is priced per GB basis, providing complete cost transparency and predictability. Compared to traditional solutions that require complex set-ups and custom implementations, IPC and CloudSigma are able to bring to market a comprehensive disaster recovery solution at a disruptively low price by using technology to automate the process and encourage self-configuration via the main webapp.

To know more about IPC and its services, visit www.ipc.ph.

ONE Championship Draws Massive Crowd for ONE: Reign of Kings in Manila

Wazzup Pilipinas!

For the third time in 2018, ONE Championship™ (ONE), the largest global sports media property in Asian history, brought their exciting brand of martial arts action to Philippine soil and once again, it brought the house down.  

ONE: REIGN OF KINGS, which was held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena last Friday, 27 July, featured a stacked card from top to bottom, and was headlined by top Filipino bantamweight contender Kevin ‘The Silencer’ Belingon of Team Lakay who defeated reigning ONE Featherweight and Lightweight World Champion Martin ‘The Situ-Asian’ Nguyen to become the new ONE Interim Bantamweight World Champion.

Aside from the massive main event that featured two of ONE Championship’s top athletes, a handful of other big names also saw action, including martial arts legends Renzo Gracie and Yuki Kondo, as well as former ONE Lightweight World Champion and Filipino mixed martial arts hero Eduard Folayang.

From as early as the opening bout of the night, fans had already filled up more than half of the seats at the state-of-the-art arena in Manila, and even as event night progressed, more people continued to gather outside the arena, hoping to make their way in to catch the action.

By the end of the night, the SM Mall of Asia Arena was packed to the rafters with passionate martial arts fans.

“The Philippines has always been one of the best countries to hold our events, so it’s no surprise that ONE: REIGN OF KINGS in Manila produced that kind of turnout,” said ONE Championship founder and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong.

“Filipino fans are some of the most passionate fans, not just in Asia, but in the whole world, and that’s because every Filipino, deep inside, has that warrior spirit,” Sityodtong continued.

“They celebrate and they embrace that warrior spirit that they see in their heroes. Look at Manny Pacquiao, who’s possibly the biggest Filipino martial arts hero of them all, look at guys like Eduard Folayang, look at their new champion, Kevin Belingon, these guys are warriors and these guys are champions, and that’s why they’re beloved in the Philippines.”

In turn, the Filipino contingent at ONE: REIGN OF KINGS repaid the unparalleled fan support by turning in a 4-0 clean sweep that saw Folayang, Joshua Pacio, and Rene Catalan all putting on impressive performances leading to dominant victories.

Drawing a huge crowd and pulling in an immense number of viewers in Manila is nothing new anymore, as back in 2017, ONE Championship made history by putting together the most-watched mixed martial arts event in the country.

ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY, which was headlined by then-champion Folayang successfully defending his ONE Lightweight World Championship against top contender Ev Ting back in 21 April, 2017, became the most-watched mixed martial arts show in the Philippines, not only filling up the SM Mall of Asia Arena, but also garnering a 26-percent peak ratings share that blasted the competitors’ television ratings out of the water.

“We broke all records with a 26 percent peak TV ratings share as per Nielsen. Those numbers are massive. It means one in four Filipinos who were watching TV was watching ONE Championship,” Sityodtong said then.

After making history last year, ONE Championship aims to make even more history in the Philippines this year and in the years to come, and one of the steps the company has taken is to double-up on the number of events to take place on Philippine soil.

From usually holding two cards a year, ONE Championship has already put on three momentous cards in Manila this year, and there’s one more on the way, which is likely to again feature some of the biggest names on the ONE roster.

By the end of 2018, Manila will have hosted four ONE Championship events.

“It’s always big when we come to the Philippines,” said Sityodtong. “We’ve put on big-time championship bouts, we’ve showcased legends on our events, and we’ve even introduced new avenues of martial arts like the ONE Super Series which we debuted back in April in Manila, because we know that we’ll always get a warm reception from the fans there, and they’ve never let us down.”

“This year, we’ll be holding twice as many cards in Manila, and moving forward, the Filipino martial arts fans can expect even more big names and even more exciting ONE Championship action. As I’ve said before, I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg with regards to what ONE Championship can achieve.” Sityodtong added.

ONE Championship returns to Manila on Friday, 23 November, 2018 for ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.