EPISODE five of ONE Warrior Series Philippines had a few surprises for its viewers.
Not one, but two warriors had to leave the show in Benguet City after three gruelling Circle Elimination showdowns.
In the end, Marvin Malunes of Team Passion and Joevincent So of Team Gravity had to go home. But the most surprising thing was that So left on his own accord.
The first Circle Elimination sparring showdown of the night happened between So and Malunes, and So proved that he belonged in the competition as he avoided Malunes’ strikes with slick counters.
In fact, he slipped one of Malunes’ advances and countered with a punishing right hook that damaged the Team Passion fighter, forcing referee Jaybe Ban-Eg to stop the match.
The finish assured viewers that Malunes would be given the boot at the end of the episode. However, nobody expected So to voluntary leave the show after feeling bad over what happened during the sparring session.
Joevincent So voluntarily departs ONE Warrior Series PH
“For the past few weeks, I’ve been with Team Gravity and Team Passion and I treated them as my family, and hurting one of my family has never been okay for me. I’d like to voluntarily eliminate myself in ONE Warrior Series Philippines,” he said.
“Hopefully, you’ll understand my decision. I’ve grown fond of all of them.”
In the other pairing, 37-year-old Genil Francisco delivered a classic performance as he dominated RJ Ortega on the ground to prove that while he’s up there in age he can still roll with the young guns.
Francisco’s performance was so impressive that he was immediately excluded from the eliminations, and before So’s voluntary exit, Ortega was on his way to being eliminated.
Luckily for Ortega, though, he was given another chance as he was chosen to stay on after much deliberation from the coaches.
“They were supposed to eliminate me, but now that I’m given a second chance, my confidence is immediately restored,” he said.
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