ONE Championship: Rene Catalan reveals fighting Alex Silva with a broken hand

Rene Catalan is now on a three-fight losing streak in ONE Championship after suffering a submission loss in his rematch with Alex Silva. 'The Challenger' has revealed that he entered the cage with a broken hand at ONE: NextGen III. Speaking to Sportskeeda, Catalan said:

"Three weeks before the fight, my right hand had a fracture. I tried to overdose it with pain reliever so I won't feel the pain that much. I was injured during my sparring session with my brother Robin and I couldn't throw a punch or even lift a glass."

Catalan clearly struggled against Silva in the bout. Despite securing top-position, he wasn't able to do any damage to his opponent and was eventually caught in an armbar seconds before the bell. He added:

"I caught my hand and can really feel the pain coming from my elbow. I was not able to avoid the injured hand. At first it was my hand then my elbow got overstretched."

The founder of the Catalan Fighting System has maintained a good relationship with Silva since their last fight eight years ago, which also ended in an armbar submission.

Catalan's professional fighting record fell to 6-5 and it was his third loss via submission.

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Why did Catalan choose to hide the injury from ONE Championship?

Rene Catalan is the sole representative of the Catalan Fighting System, his family gym in Manila, the Philippine capital. He has a lot of responsibilities other than fighting, including maintaining his gym, taking care of his fighters, running the operations of a family business and more.

During the pandemic, it was hard for him to find ways to create sources of income and he will do everything he can to make sure everything is taken care of, even if that means not fighting at his best in order to continue to compete at ONE Championship.

"I did not tell ONE Championship because I had to fight to survive due to the pandemic. We have to take care of rent and I have to force my way to fight."