Jomary Torres Inching Closer to a Title Shot at One Championship ‘Conquest of Heroes’

Jomary Torres is riding the crest of an incredible run, highlighted by a stomping of previously undefeated Thai star, Rika Ishige. That upset was followed by three more victories, an impressive feat for someone who had zero martial arts experience before she started training in December 2015.

This says heaps about her coaches at Catalan Fighting System. When the team welcomed her into their fold around three years ago, Torres was a bashful, small-town young woman with dreams of making it big as a basketball player. But crazy as the Philippines is for basketball, the country has no professional women’s league to speak of. Thanks to CFS, Torres’ competitive spirit was satisfied by the purest competition of them all.

The former nanny now finds herself as one of the torchbearers for women’s MMA in the Philippines. Of course, her dedication to training has a lot to do with it, and this is what her head coach, Rene Catalan thinks separates her from the lot. The wushu world champion and flyweight contender is all praises for her work ethic and believes her strength and conditioning will be the difference in her upcoming fight with Indonesian sanda champion, Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol.

This is not the first time Torres will fight a decorated Indonesian wushu practitioner. A year ago, she decisioned three-time national sanda champion, Nita Dea, following yet another display of powerful wrestling. Perhaps the difference between Dea and Gaol is the fact that the latter has already faced three Filipinas, submitting Rome Trinidad and Krisna Limbaga, and bowing to Gina Iniong by TKO.

But with a wushu world champion in her corner, expect “The Zamboanginian Fighter” to come out with a master plan for success. “We need to win to get closer to a title shot,” said her mentor Catalan, who was also a former coach to the Canadian national wushu team.

There is perhaps no other thing as motivating as a strap around your waist, and this weekend, Torres will look to get closer to a title shot with a win over Gaol. Keys to victory for Torres are patience, counter striking and ground control, which posed problems for Gaol in her recent fight against Jihin Radzuan.

The highly anticipated atomweight showdown is part of the One Championship: Conquest of Heroes card, which will take place on Sept. 22 at the Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia. In the main event, Joshua Pacio will challenge Yoshitaka Naito for the world strawweight title.