By CARLO ANOLIN
American fighter Emilio Urrutia is banking on his ground game against the striking prowess of Filipino-Kiwi Mark Abelardo on Friday.
Urrutia and Abelardo are set to meet in the Circle in their bantamweight clash in ONE: Fists of Fury II at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
As much as possible, Urrutia said he is planning to take the game to the canvas with wrestling and jiu-jitsu while looking out for the powerful striking of Abelardo.
But wherever the match ends up, the 34-year-old Urrutia is confident to be in dominant form over the Fil-Kiwi fighter with a submission victory on top of his strategy.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if I get a first round finish. I’m going to finish him. I want to submit him, said Urrutia, who holds an 11-7 record. “I want to do everything I can to put him on his back and get a submission victory. I’m going to punch him in the face, take him down, and submit him, then take my win bonus straight back to the hotel.”
Urrutia, who is currently on a three-match skid since April 2018, last saw action in February 2019 and suffered a third-round knockout loss against Japanese foe Yoshiki Nakahara.
The 29-year-old Abelardo, for his part, has lost three of his last four fights since May 2019. He is looking forward to barge into the winning column after two straight defeats last year against Troy Worthen of America and Fabricio Andrade of Brazil.
Both Abelardo and Urrutia are training in their respective camps in Thailand.
The Fil-Kiwi warrior is holed up in Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya while the American striker is with his new stable Bangkok Fight Lab.
“He (Abelardo) is good and I respect him. We’re kind of like the same guy. He’s a foreigner living in Asia, traveling and training and competing across the world, and I’m doing the same thing. We’re just similar people, but we both want the same thing [in this fight]. So it’s got to be me,” added Urrutia.
