Gurdarshan “Saint Lion” Mangat believes that he will put on a performance to remember should he get a shot at former ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio.
Mangat called out Eustaquio after his win over Yodkaikaew “Y2K” Fairtex at ONE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen on 3 June, doubling down on his challenge to the Filipino spitfire.
“I think it does [have the potential to be a classic]. That’s why he and I are so interested [in fighting],” Mangat said.
“For me, personally, it’s a great contest because it’s the Philippines versus India, and I fought Filipinos before, and it’s always been a great, respectful rivalry.”
But challenging Eustaquio doesn’t just stem from personal gain; it’s something deeper.
While Mangat was preparing for the Filipino in each of their two previously postponed fights, he trained with veteran MMA fighter Kyle Reyes. Unfortunately, Reyes passed away last year. So, Mangat is motivated to beat “Gravity” for his fallen comrade.
“[Reyes] helped me almost two to three times back-to-back getting ready for that fight [with Eustaquio], but those fights never happened,” Mangat said.
“It’s nothing against my opponent. It’s just something personal I hold in my heart, that we prepared, day-in and day-out, three times a day for almost two years, and now he passed away. But I still want to complete [the fight].”
There’s a lot of fighters on Mangat’s mind right now, including #5-ranked flyweight Reece “Lightning” McLaren, but his entire focus is making the Eustaquio fight happen.
“In the future, for sure [I’d like to face Reece]. But I definitely want to do the Geje fight first. I think we both do. I’ve been seeing him posting articles,” he said.
“Maybe fall or closer to winter time we’d do that, and it’d be quite an exciting fight.”
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