Julaton defeats Abbas, wants Osman rematch

MANILA, Philippines – Once again, Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton, captured the hearts of Filipino MMA fans with a very convincing win over Walaa Abbas during the One Fighting Championship: Warrior’s Way card at Mall of Asia Arena on Friday evening.

In just her third MMA bout, Julaton showed progress inside the cage as she showcased more of her grappling skills that caught her opponent off guard. Still, Julaton is enthusiastic on her improvement and MMA future.

“Obviously, I am still learning. As an MMA fighter, I am still trying to put everything together. I think I focused more on the ground game as opposed to my boxing,” said Julaton.

“I am still learning, and this is my first camp on the ground arts and we were focusing more on the defences and transitions. Obviously for the next fight, I would love to pick your opponent up and take them down and I would love to put that in my repertoire. It is a work in progress and I promise to work really hard to be a more cohesive fighter,” added Julaton.

Julaton will be returning to the United States to take a break during the holidays. Once the new year starts, she will be back to train again in boxing as she is slated to fight in Macau next March.

“It is so nice now, that after this fight, I get to focus more on my boxing. Top Rank and Bob Arum have been working on a big fight for me in Macau next year and I will look forward to that.”

During her previous match here in Manila, NBA player Ronny Turiaf joined her corner. On Friday, she chose a local player, Japeth Aguilar, who has supported her and even visited her in her camp in the United States.

“He is here to support me and I appreciate that. I love the support along with other kababayans. You know, basketball is one of the top sports in the Philippines and I feel that this adds a new element in the fight game. I love having the support of all other sports,” said Julaton.

The Hurricane expressed interest to once again grace the next One FC fight card in Manila, which is slated in April 2015. She hinted that she would love to have both Turiaf and Aguilar on her corner.

“Ronny Turiaf called me today, he said that he loves it here in Manila and he would love to come in the next one. Maybe we can do a duo with Ronny and Japeth in the next fight,” said Julaton.

Julaton’s camp has always expressed to have a rematch with Ann Osman after losing to a very close split decision in her opponent’s hometown in Malaysia, but Osman won’t agree. This time with the win, she hopes that Osman would accept the match and come to Manila and fight in front of her home crowd.

“I would love that rematch and I know the Philippines and the entire Asia would love to see that. I would think it would be a more mature fight.”