The epic mixed martial arts (MMA) trilogy in ONE Championship’s history that everybody has been waiting for to arrive in Manila is finally happening.

Team Lakay stalwart and ONE Championship’s Flyweight world champion Geje “The Gravity” Eustaquio takes on Brazilian submission monster Adriano “Mikhino” Moraes a third time in the upcoming “Hero’s Ascent” fightcard, which will air LIVE on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD on Friday (January 25) at 8:30 pm straight from Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Eustaquio (11-6) is out to erase doubts of his split decision victory over Moraes (17-3, 9 submissions) in ONE’s “Pinnacle of Power” event last year where he captured the world flyweight championship belt. The two MMA stars first met each other in 2014 with Moraes thumping the proud warrior from Baguio handedly.

The rubber match this Friday is also Eustaquio’s first title defense since capturing the belt and the 29-year-old vows that the “Gravity” that won the title will be different to the one that will face Moraes inside the cage. “This time, there will be more surprises for Adriano Moraes,” he shared in the presscon last Tuesday (January 22)

For MMA analyst Nissi Icasiano, Eustaquio does not necessarily need a win by either knockout or submission to validate his status as the undisputed flyweight kingpin.

“All he has to do in the third fight is to replicate the same performance that he exhibited in the rematch last June to negate the upper hand of Adriano Moraes in the grappling department while utilizing his leverage in the stand-up,” he said.

To him, the third fight between the two proud MMA combatants will be the most difficult for both parties. “The rubber match is going to be the toughest among the three fights that they have in ONE Championship. Familiarity will come into play. The more they fight, the more it becomes dangerous. It's a bitter pill for Moraes to swallow that the man whom he submitted easily in 2014 went the distance with him in the rematch, used his strength against him, and took away his world title,” he added.

Also fighting in the card is Eustaquio’s teammate, and fellow flyweight, Danny Kingad (8-1) who returns to the cage after almost four months of inactivity following his unanimous decision victory over Yuya Wakamatsu to face another Japanese in Tatsumi Wada (20-9-2). The two warriors hope to avenge the twin losses of fellow Team Lakay members Edward Kelly and former ONE Strawweight division world champion Joshua Pacio in  January 19’s “Eternal Glory” event in Indonesia.

Can Eustaquio break the bad start of Team Lakay and retain his world title against the Brazilian beast in Moraes? Don’t miss his first world title defense in ONE Championship’s “Hero’s Ascent” fightcard which will air on S+A on Friday (January 25) at 8:30 pm LIVE from the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

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