Geje Eustaquio
What are your feelings on competing at the Studio City Event Center in Macau, China? “I am already looking forward to it. Many described Macau as the Las Vegas of Asia. It’s every fighter’s dream to compete in Las Vegas, which is considered as the fight capital of the world. I will have the opportunity and the privilege to have that Las Vegas-like feel when I compete in Macau on June 23.”
What scenarios have you been drilling in the gym to ready yourself for a fluid performance on fight night? “I have evolved as a martial artist since we first met inside the cage in 2014. I know that it will be different in the rematch against Adriano Moraes. The second bout against Kairat Akhmetov is a testament that I am no longer a one-dimensional fighter. I trusted my team, and in the bout against Akhmetov, one of the things we worked on was how to bring the bout back to the feet.”
“This time around, I have a feeling we will be standing more. I think he will want to stand and trade with me to test his striking. If the going gets rough, then he can focus on taking it to the mat. The same principle applies to me. I want to test my Jiu-Jitsu skills too, and what better opponent than Adriano Moraes to do so against?”
You were previously finished by Adriano. What do you need to do differently in the rematch to ensure a positive outcome for yourself? “That loss has taught me a lot. Ever since then, I have worked extensively in improving in all areas. I have worked extremely hard to get to this point because deep inside, I knew we would meet again. Now I can finally give him a better fight.”
“This rematch is very big. It is the biggest of my career, no doubt. I am treating this bout as the most significant of my time as a professional mixed martial artist, but because of my hard work and preparations, all that is left is to give the performance of a lifetime.”
Avenged a loss to Kairat Akhmetov in your prior outing. Also avenged a loss to Anatpong Bunrad in a rematch. Does your record in rematches give you extra confidence as you head into a rematch with a different opponent here? “There were lots of trials and challenges. My path was not the easiest, but I always knew what I had to do to achieve it. Like I always say, it’s either you win or you learn. I learned from my past failures. And here I am today. That’s the secret to my success.”
Have been with ONE since their second event. How important is it for you to grow alongside ONE which has become a global force in the MMA scene? “They have provided a good platform for young fighters like me to showcase our talent on a global stage. I am happy that ONE Championship is leading the way in Asia and around the globe. As it continues to grow, we at Team Lakay are pledging our support. Now as the frontrunner of the sport in Asia, ONE Championship has a massive responsibility to continue the growth of the entire industry. If the company will be able to meet its vision of becoming a billion-dollar sports property, which will be first in Asia, everyone in the MMA ecosystem is going to benefit from it.”
You’re a highly regarded wushu practitioner and ONE has done a great job of promoting that discipline as opposed to other MMA promotions. Do you see the discipline of wushu growing greatly as a result of ONE Championship promoting it more than other organizations seem to be? “ONE Championship is the only global player to encompass all styles of martial arts, and I am delighted that the promotion is also promoting other forms of martial arts such as Wushu. Wushu is now getting popular because of our former champions like Eduard Folayang and Honorio Banario as well as it has given birth to many of the most talented athletes in ONE Championship today. This discipline has led a few competitors to capturing world championships, and many others to challenging for a world title. I am proud that Wushu served as my base in this martial arts journey.”
An opponent who was scheduled to face you ended up dying as a result of his attempted weight cut. ONE seems to have a pretty comprehensive weigh in system that could stand to change how fighters attempt cuts going ahead. What are your thoughts on weight cutting in MMA and ONE’s weigh-in/ water weight based system? “I believe the weight system will extend every fighter’s career in MMA. First, it is safe. Second, it keeps the fighters healthy all throughout the process. And last, the conventional process of cutting weight is actually painstaking. More or less, it decreases the fighter’s performance on fight night.”
“I really felt comfortable the first time that I underwent through it. I was not prohibited to eat and drink unlike before. All I have to do is maintain, which is an easy task rather than forcing yourself to lose weight for your fight. All I had to do was eat and train for my fight. Maintaining was so easy. I believe fighters will be able to fight until they are in their 40s with this new weigh-in procedure.”
Adriano Moraes
What are your feelings on competing at the Studio City Event Center in Macau, China? “I feel so good gonna be a honor for me to fight again in Macao, will be my 4th time in Macao and I feel like home , have a lot of Brazilian over there to cheers for me it’s gonna be like against akhmetov.”
What scenarios have you been drilling in the gym to ready yourself for a fluid performance on fight night? “I trained hard at American top team with a very good teammates and an excellent coaches, I feel ready and trust my self to do a big show for the world.”
You defeated Geje previously by submission. How do you see the rematch playing out differently if at all? “My first Fight against eustaquio was very good performance , I hope to show my improve and my skills , not gonna be all different but I promise the studio city gonna be burn.”
Have been with ONE since their 12th event. How important is it for you to grow alongside ONE which has become a global force in the MMA scene? “I’ve been with ONE long 5 years with up and downs , is a honor to see very close the one championship growing , ONE getting better in all , this growing brought us more responsibility and prestigious, today if you fight at ONE you are a big fighter , the level of Fights the ONE getting better and every year is more hard to be a champion ,for me is a honor to be part of this family and see this beautiful growing up.”
Have been involved in ONE Flyweight title bouts for almost the last two years straight. How important is it for you to unify these belts and irrefutably stamp your claim as being ONE’s best 125lb-er? “In this year I always compete in high level always on the top , the sacrifice I do for this give me belts and I love this , I train hard every day to be better for me and show for ONE my values. Be the best flyweight at ONE sounds very good for me i like to put level in this classic. I trained very hard to be the First ONE flyweight world champion in the history of ONE I made history forever and I will train harder to keep making history its be part of me.”
You have more experience in the championship rounds than your opponent. Do you feel like this will give you a discernable edge in this fight here? “Fight is fight everybody knows that. But the numbers don’t lie and me either I have more experience and the numbers of my favor is my 4th time in Macao and I will do my best how I always do.
Had a knee injury in February that resulted in a fight cancellation. How have you rebounded from that injury just a few months later into the calendar year? ” I suffered an injury one my knee last February, I need canceled my bout and I feel so sad , it never happened with me in my career, but I had good doctors and physiotherapy with me like Kamil from Poland ,I did my MRI and my injury wasn’t serious. I needed 2 mounts to recovery and come back to work and now I’m here 100% . Thank you Kamil and Dr.Gelb for this.”
Laura Balin
What’s your mindset like as you head into a main event title fight for your promotional debut with ONE? “I’m trying to enjoy all this moment, this is the great opportunity I was waiting for all these years, and I’m gonna do my best!”
You have a 90% finishing rate…….riding a four fight win streak with all finishes…..how do you see the finish presenting itself in this bout? “I think every fights an every opponent are different, so finals are always in different ways. I’m prepared to fight many styles, so in this fight all can happen.”
It’s also your first time competing in Asia and first time fighting outside Latin America. What are your feelings on competing at the Studio City Event Center in Macau, China? “I’m very happy with this fight, it’s a great challenge, in a professional way and in a personal way. I really enjoy broking my own limits, looking forward, trying harder to be better. ONE Championship gave me this chance, I will not waste it.”
What scenarios have you been drilling in the gym to ready yourself for a fluid performance on fight night? “I had been training a lot, all styles, to be prepared in the best way for this fight.”
Had a prior Strawweight title bout that resulted in a loss to Kalindra Faria at MMA Super Heroes 3. What did you learn from that losing effort that will benefit you in this upcoming title bid for ONE? “Lose a fight is hard, but make you more strong. Only who loves what is doing can get up again, heal wounds, and start all over again. In harder moments, you realized that this is your passion, and you come back. We tried to work on the mistakes, to get a positive result.”
It will be just shy of two years out of competition for you as you step into the ONE cage. Did the layoff from competition have any benefits for you? “I don’t like to be so many time without competition. This last two years had been unusual, I was out of competition because there is no many events in my country, I had to get more hours of work because I need the money, then I hurt me… and at the end my mom’s disease got worse so I really want to stay by her… but I always wanted to come back. And here I am.”