By MARK REY MONTEJO
Rising star Islay Erika Bomogao continued her winning ways, beating China’s Ran Longshu via a unanimous decision in their back-and-forth Muay Thai catchweight showdown in One Championship’s Friday Fights 93, Jan. 10, at the famed Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Bomogao, 24, delivered a variety of knees, kicks and punches in all three rounds to earn the judges’ nod and spoil the gritty and much younger but taller Longshu’ ONE debut for her second win in one of the world’s largest MMA tournaments.
The proud daughter of Cordillera region was elated in the outcome of the match, but still looks forward to learning and making more adjustments heading into her future bouts.
“Officially 2-0 in professional muaythai and 1-0 in One Lumpinee. I’m grateful for the win but I definitely still have a lot of adjustments to do,” Bomogao said on her Facebook post.
“Will be even better next time. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, ONE Championship!” she added.
The win didn’t come easy for Bomogao as the 19-year-old Longshu put up a power hit – highlighted by her left kick on the charming Filipina chest in the opening seconds of the third and final canto.
But those combos and counters from the Chinese weren’t able to dishearten Bomogao, who quickly stood up – with her fiery eyes just focused on her foe. The cute but deadly fighter then responded with a left front kick with less than a minute after then dropped a series of punches and kicks to secure enough points and sealed the hard-earned victory.
Last November, Bomogao made her first appearance where she also scored a unanimous win over Japan’s Fuu in Friday Fights 86 at the same venue.
Before entering the pro scene, the University of Baguio’s PE graduate was consistently winning competitions in local and abroad including a Muay Thai title – which made herself as the first Filipina to ever do it – after beating her Australian rival.
She as well etched became ranked No. 1 in the 45kg class of the International Federation of Muay Thai Associations (IFMA) world rankings.
