ONE FC: Rise of Heroes | Toquero's Skills and Experience will Make the Difference.

Filipino mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Eugene Toquero will rely on his experience and skills to beat, even knock out, undefeated American-born Malaysian Gianni Subba on May 2 in the star-studded ONE Fighting Championship card at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

“My experience and skills will make the difference. There will be a knockout and it will be him going down,” Toquero, whose MMA record is four wins and one loss, said.

He guarantees that the fans will enjoy his fight with Subba.“The fans will enjoy our fight. Subba may be good but I’m better because of my experience and skills.”

“I have more fights in my career than Subba. I’m a veteran when it comes to competition. Mas maraming baon ako,” he added.

Before venturing into MMA in 2009, Toquero, a flyweight like Subba, was a member of the Philippine muay thai national team from 2004 to 2009. In his teen, he was a member of a Cebu kickboxing gym and participated in local competitions.

Eugene Toquero at the ONE FC Press Conference.

Toquero, 33, admitted that the competition in ONE FC is tough that’s why he’s not taking his fight with Subba, 22, lightly. “Maraming magagaling sa ONE FC kaya hindi puwede pa-easy easy lang. Laro laro din ako pero nandon pa rin ang game plan (There are lots of good fighters in ONE FC that’s why it’s not advisable to take it easy. I play but I still follow my game plan),” the Cebuano fighter said in an interview.

Toquero, whose day job is gym instructor and coach to some local celebrities on mixed martial arts, said he has learned some lessons during his first MMA loss to Team Lakay fighter Geje Eustaquio in the ONE FC event last December. “Lessons learned? One should not stop from training. One should learn more techniques,” he said. Toquero said this time against Subba, he’s training hard and spending more time in the gym and has enhanced his fight techniques.

Gianni Subba vs Eugene Toquero.

He started training as early as January this year even though he has no opponent yet at that time. He admitted, though, that he has not seen any fight tape on Subba and would not watch it even as the fight nears. “I will be underestimating myself if I watch his fight tapes.”

Toquero may seem like a brash fighter because of his intemperate comments but in reality he’s silent and serious. “I just want to entertain the fans that’s why I seem like arrogant sometimes."

Tickets for ONE FC: RISE OF HEROES are on sale now at SM Tickets.
Ticket categories begin with the full Red Carpet and cageside experience for VIPs at PHP 6,360, followed by Patron PHP 3,180, Lower Box PHP 1,280, Upper Box PHP 640 and General Admission PHP 220. Prices include ticketing fee.