THE future is here and the year 2021 sure gave everyone a tantalizing glimpse of what the future holds for Philippine mixed martial arts.
And truth be told, it made us crave for more.
Filipinos in ONE Championship
Leading the pack is reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua "The Passion" Pacio who proved that he's still his division's top dog despite 18 months of inactivity.
The 25-year-old fighter, who had to endure COVID-19 back in April, was already up and about in September as he bookended his rivalry with Yosuke Saruta with a brutal barrage of punches to secure a first-round knockout at ONE: Revolution.
Denice "Lycan Queen" Zamboanga also remained formidable as ever as she ended the year ranked no. 2 among the women's atomweight contenders.
There's no question on the 24-year-old's capabilities despite bowing out early in the ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix where she suffered a controversial split decision loss to Seo Hee Ham at ONE: Empower last September, with many believing that the Filipina still deserves her shot at current ONE Women's Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee.
Team Lakay has also long touted how exciting its next wave of talents are, and their respective debuts did prove that coach Mark Sangiao's prophecies were indeed true.
Jeremy "The Juggernaut" Pacatiw, only 25 years of age, was the first to make his mark at ONE: Battleground back in July as he dominated Chen Rui for the unanimous decision win.
Former Brave CF Bantamweight Champion Stephen "The Sniper" Loman, 29, also showed no letups in his promotional debut as he stunned erstwhile no. 3-ranked Yusup Saadulaev, flooring him with a killer left hook for the knockout finish at ONE: Winter Warriors II in December.
In the same card, 18-year-old prodigy Jhanlo Mark "The Machine" Sangiao also showed that he's as good as his father, submitting Paul Lumihi with a rear-naked choke in the first round, displaying the improved grappling game from the Baguio-based stable.
But that's not limited to Team Lakay fighters with Jeremy "The Jaguar" Miado also making his mark this year.
The 28-year-old fighter, who joined the Zamboangas in Marrok Force MMA Gym in Bangkok, finally got his first career win streak as he repeated over Miao Li Tao with a second round technical knockout win, unloading a barrage of punches to get his hands raised at ONE: NextGen in November and show that he's indeed a formidable contender in the strawweight division.
Even those who suffered defeats this year showed great promise, holding their head high after bowing to more fancied foes.
Lito "Thunder Kid" Adiwang remained ruthless in his fights this year, first connecting with a lethal left hook to knock out Namiki Kawahara at ONE: unbreakable in January before his clinical dissection of Hexigetu at ONE: Revolution for the unanimous decision win.
Unfortunately, the 28-year-old's first main event billing did not end up the way he envisioned as he had to tap out to the debuting former UFC star Jarred Brooks, losing in the second round via an arm triangle choke at ONE: NextGen 3 in November.
Jenelyn Olsim was the epitome of a go-getter this year. The 25-year-old first submitted Maira Mazar with a guillotine choke in a women's strawweight showdown at ONE: Fists of Fury 3 in March, before moving to the women's atomweght division and pummelling Bi Nguyen at ONE: Battleground 3 in August for the unanimous decision victory.
With a spot open in the ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix following the injury on Itsuki Hirata, the 30th Southeast Asian Games silver medalist for Muay Thai was happy to step up to the plate despite the fight coming in short notice. However, Ritu Phogat outwrestled her for three rounds to hand her a unanimous decision loss at ONE: NextGen in October.
Despite those losses, it has been a relatively positive year for young Filipino mixed martial artists who more than made up for the devastating defeats suffered by the old guards.
Former ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard "Landslide" Folayang tasted two more defeats this year, first to rival Shinya Aoki at ONE on TNT 4 in April and again in July at ONE: Battleground 2 to former UFC signee Zhang Lipeng.
Also tasting defeats were former ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin "The Silencer" Belingon and ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix runner-up Danny "The King" Kingad, who faltered in their ONE returns in December.
Nonetheless, the year 2021 only proved that there's more to watch for Pinoy cage fans and we're all excited on how these warriors can plot their way to the top of the mountain.
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