JEAN Claude Saclag was defeated by Otabek Rajabov of Tajikistan and settle for a silver medal in the men’s traditional -65kg division of the 20th Asian Games mixed martial arts competition at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center.
Saclag bagged the second Asiad silver of his career, mirroring his feat in the 2014 Asian Games in the wushu sanda 60kg competitions in Incheon, Korea.
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Saclag, who will turn 32 on Friday, is also a three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in kickboxing.
Saclag delivered a big left straight that took down the Tajik fighter early in the bout, but Rajabov was able to recover from that initial setback.
Rajabov, a former MMA world juniors champion, later took the fight to the ground to neutralize Saclag’s punching prowess.
On his way to the final, Saclag beat Saud Fawaz Almolhem of Saudi Arabia and Daisuke Murayama of Japan.
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