Rene Catalan Brims With Confidence In Tough Bout Against Former Champion

Wazzup Pilipinas!

In a few days, Rene “The Challenger” Catalan is set for the biggest battle of his career in ONE Championship.

The 40-year-old Iloilo native is wrapping up the most rigorous training camp he has ever had as he takes on former ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito at ONE: REIGN OF VALOR, which emanates from the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium at Yangon, Myanmar this Friday, 8 March.

Knowing what is at stake in the contest, Catalan is leaving no stones unturned as he puts his five-match winning streak on the line against the submission wizard like Naito.

“Definitely, this is the toughest and biggest match of my career,” he stressed.

“Naito is a former World Champion, well-experienced and we all know how dangerous he is on the mat, but I’m confident with my skills and I will do whatever it takes to win and get my title shot.”

The battle between the two is another classic striker versus grappler match-up with Catalan getting the advantage on the feet being a multiple-time Wushu World Champion himself.

Naito, on other hand, will expectedly be looking to turn this into a grappling match-up as the bout will expectedly tilt to the Japanese’s favor the moment it hits the ground.

When that happens, Catalan vows to be ready.

“For the past few months, I’ve been focusing on my ground game, especially with my takedown defense with the help of our Philippine and SEA Games wrestling champ Roque Verangel Mana-ay Jr,” he bared.

“This is definitely one of the best camps I had, which is just in time for the most important match of my career.”

After starting with two loss in ONE Championship, Catalan is just a stone’s throw away from reaching his ultimate goal of winning a World Title.

Standing in his way is Naito, who looks to redeem himself after relinquishing the ONE Strawweight World Championship to Joshua “The Passion” Pacio in their September 2018 rematch.

Catalan made a promise to do everything he can to go past the former World Champion from Japan.

“I’ve been training for these kinds of guys for so long, and I’ve been training hard almost everyday.” he stated.

“I feel good and confident about this match. I will win in Yangon and put myself closer to my dream of becoming a World Champion.”

PHLPost Launches National On the Spot Letter Writing Contest

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Twenty Seven (27) students from various parts of the country will compete in the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) sponsored National On-The-Spot Letter Writing Competition to be held at the GSIS - Museo ng Sining in Pasay City this coming March 08, 2019.

The participating students won the Regional Letter Writing Contest which was organized in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) focusing on the theme “Salamat Po Teacher”, the 4A’s of Gratitude: Appreciation, Admiration, Approval, and Attention”.

Aside from cash prizes, the winning composition will represent the Philippines in the Universal Postal Union (UPU) International Letter Writing Competition for Young People in Berne, Switzerland. The Universal Postal Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations consisting of members from 192 countries.

Adopted at UPU’s 1969 Tokyo Congress and officially launched in 1971, the competition brings talented young people together from thousands of schools in dozens of countries.

The competition’s primary goal is to advance global literacy, education and creativity among young people. It enhances the young people’s skills in composition and the ability to express their thoughts clearly.

The winners will be decided based on the criteria set by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) by the panel of judges composed of Ricardo Ador Dionisio, Senior Education Program Specialist, Bureau of Curriculum Dev’t, Curriculum Standard Dev’t Division, Major Maria Lourdes E. Ranario, PA- Co-author Marawi and Beyond and Atty. Nicolas Pichay, Palanca Awardee.

Winners will be announced on March 22, 2019 during the “Salamat Po Teacher” Grand Raffle Draw. For more information, pls. visit the programs official FB page: https://www.facebook.com/SalamatPoLetterWriting/.

Jomary Torres’ Coach Confident In Claiming Impressive Win In Yangon

Wazzup Pilipinas!

If Catalan Fighting System head coach Rene Catalan is to be believed, then his warrior in Jomary Torres needs to step up more than ever.



Torres absorbed consecutive decision losses in her last two outings, putting her on a virtual must-win match when she takes on China’s Lin Heqin at ONE: REIGN OF VALOR this Friday, 8 March at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar.



Knowing how damaging a third-straight loss would be for his ward, Catalan hopes to see the Torres of old, the one who won three consecutive matches to open her campaign in ONE Championship.



"She has to be explosive and impressive in her upcoming fight. We cannot afford to have a third consecutive defeat,” he said as Torres suffered decision losses to Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol and former ONE World Title contender Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi to end 2018.



But if there is one reason to be hopeful for Catalan, it is the fact that they are going to finish this training camp seamlessly without any hiccups, major or minor.



Catalan shared that “The Zamboanginian Fighter” had to prepare with ankle issues in the past, something that they finally avoided for this contest.



"Our training went well this time around, unlike her last couple of fights when she had problems with her ankle," he bared.



Now that he was successful in preparing Torres physically, Catalan will have to focus on getting Torres’ confidence back.



It is not easy, especially coming from consecutive losses, but Catalan was happy to see that Torres’ head is in the right place heading into this critical match-up.



"I told her to take those losses as a learning experience, and that we must properly execute our game plan moving forward,” he stated.



“She was in high spirits even after losing. Everything I tell her she absorbs.”



Now that they have that out of the way, it is now a matter of getting things done in the cage.



"We might go for a stoppage in this fight. We are prepared to do everything,” he stated. “We already have a game plan that only needs to be followed."