After falling short in his most recent outing on the ONE Championship stage, former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario is determined to reinsert his name into the winner’s column.
Banario is set to face the “Crazy Dog” Dae Sung Park of South Korea on the undercard of ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS, which takes place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines on Friday, 23 November.
His remarkable five-match winning streak ended this past September after being submitted by Singaporean sensation Amir Khan in the first round at ONE: BEYOND THE HORIZON in Shanghai, China.
This will be Banario’s third bout this 2018, and the 29-year-old Baguio City native does not have any plans of adding another setback to his record as he looks to end the year on a triumphant note.
“It was a tough loss, and it made me realize of the things I still need to work on in my overall game,” he said. “I’ve learned my lessons the hard way, but it motivates me to step up my game further.”
“This is a perfect opportunity for me to end the year right. I split my previous two matches this year, and I don’t have any plans of losing again, especially that I’ll be competing in front of a passionate Manila crowd on 23 November. I don’t want to lose in front of my countrymen,” Banario added.
Following his heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Khan, Banario was forced to go back to the drawing board to reassess himself and review what went wrong in the most crucial point of the bout against the rising Singapore star.
Despite being put in a precarious position in his last outing, Banario made sure that he could handle the situation better if he encounters the same scenario again in the future.
“I learned from it. I believe that’s it’s important. I am fully aware in case it happens again. It’s one of the good sides of losing,” he stated.
As he seeks to place himself back on the winning track, Banario stressed that he has made some critical adjustments to his preparation and game plan in his upcoming cage meeting with Park.
“I have made other adjustments. I don’t want to be complacent because everyone in our division is already making their move to bolster their status in the division. The lightweight division is stacked, and every match will have a huge impact in the rankings,” he explained.
Banario promises that he will go all-out in his match against Park in order to return to his winning form.
“I want to end the year on a high note and start 2019 carrying a win against a tough opponent. I will give my best in this bout. I will leave everything on the line,” he declared.
