When Rocky Batolbatol, 31, of Bacolod, Philippines directed his career path to ONE Championship in 2014, he was once touted as a promising Filipino mixed martial artist. However, the luster of his billing as a top-notch prospect slowly faded when a string of setbacks came his way.

Born in Bacolod, Batolbatol made his professional MMA debut on October 16, 2011. When he made his ONE Championship debut on November 17, 2014, he suffered a second-round submission loss at the hands of Martin Nguyen of Australia.

In Batolbatol’s second ONE Championship outing in February 2016, he encountered the same fate as he tasted a first-round submission defeat to his Dutch-Indonesian opponent Anthony “Archangel” Engelen. A victory under the ONE Championship umbrella remained elusive for the Bacolod native as he yielded to up-and-coming Singaporean martial arts superstar Christian Lee via first-round technical knockout on May 27, 2016.

On July 29, 2017, Batolbatol will make his return to action by squaring off with “The Terminator” Sunoto of Indonesia on ONE Championship’s inaugural card in Surabaya, Indonesia. The Filipino contender said, “I am so excited to be back in action for ONE Championship, the Asian leader of martial arts and the premier MMA promotion in the region.”

“Ever since my last fight, I did not stop training,” Batolbatol continued. “It is truly an honor to showcase my talent and skills on a global stage like ONE Championship.”

Both Batolbatol and Sunoto are set to collide on the undercard of “ONE: Conquest of Kings” at the GOR Kertajaya Arena in Surabaya. With the ambition to insert his name into the winner’s column and regain his reputation as one of the Philippines’ best bantamweight fighters, the fighter from Bacolod bared that he put more emphasis on the grappling department in training camp as his cage counterpart has a penchant for grappling.

“I wanted to be comfortable anywhere the fight would go,” Batolbatol shared. “That is why I focused on my wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for this fight. But of course, I did not neglect my striking, which is my bread-and-butter for years.”

A former professional boxer, Batolbatol has transitioned smoothly into the sport of MMA, winning his initial five bouts in spectacular fashion. Constantly utilizing well-placed combinations in search of spectacular knockouts, he will be looking for a stoppage against a gritty opponent like Sunoto.

“I want a knockout,” Batolbatol shared. “It has been a longtime since the last time that I won by way of knockout. I am going in that cage with a statement to make. I can truly say that I am in the best shape of my career.”

For Batolbatol, losing is part of the sport. Even though winning has shied away from him in his last three fights in ONE Championship, he explained that his love for MMA keeps on luring him back.

“I am motivated to win this fight,” Batolbatol said. “I want to secure my first win in ONE Championship. That’s my goal. It keeps me focused and driven for this fight.”