MANILA, Philippines — Just like his compatriot Rabin Catalan, the odds aren’t exactly favoring Jimmy Yabo.
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Losing five of six ONE Championship fights can get into a fighter’s head. But not for Yabo. Heck, not even facing an insanely decorated muay thai specialist can deter his resolve.
“Kung ako lalaban, hindi ko na iniisip ‘yung mga previous fights ko,” Yabo said of his dry spell. “Talagang nagfofocus ako sa ngayon. Kung siguro ang tinitignan ko sa mga dating laban ko, ‘yung mistakes ko. Kailangan ko kasi i-correct (kung saan) ‘yung kulang.”
“Alam naman natin ‘yung capacity ng kalaban natin,” he said of he said of his opponent, Sagetdao Petpayathai, a fighter with 162 wins in the Thai sport.
“Para sa akin, kakain din ‘yan ng bigas eh,” the Cebuano fighter noted. “So walang imposible sa laban. Nag-ensayo naman ako ng mabuti.”
Taking on Petpayathai on his home ground, Yabo admits, would be a steep task. But he shared that he had been working on his ground game to bolster his chances. After all, most of his defeats, he thinks, came due to his inadequacies on the ground.
“Nag-fcouse ako (sa ground game), the 5-5-0 Yabo said. “‘Yung stand-up (game) natin, dine-develop natin ‘yan. ‘Di ko naman inaalis ‘yan since specialty ko yan. Ginagawa ko lang talaga lahat kasi baka mag-takedown siya. At least prepared tayo.”
“Nagcross-train kami. May black belt ng jiu jitsu sa Cebu. Nagtraining kami, nag-session kami, ginawa namin lahat ng makakaya namin para sa laban na to. Kaya okay naman yung naging training namin,” he added.
Outside noise and all, Yabo is firm he can finally arrest his losing streak.
“Hindi ako tumitingin sa kung anumang lugar,” he said. “Basta sakin pag laban na, laban na. Pag dating ko dito iniisip ko pag laban na, laban na.”
Yabo and Petpayathai tangled in the undercard of “Warriors of the World” on Saturday at the 12,000-seater Impact Arena here.