Ana Julaton trains with wrestling coach Ricky Lundell (Photo : AnaJulaton.com)
Former female boxing world champion, Ana "The Hurricane" Julaton (Boxing: 14-4-1, 2 KO's, MMA: 2-1) has had her successes both inside the ring and inside the cage. She makes her return to mixed martial arts soon, according to her Facebook page.
Julaton, 35, made the transition to mixed martial arts early last year and debuted for ONE Championship, Asia's premiere MMA promotion, with a 3rd round TKO victory over opponent Aya Saber. She is one of the highest profile female boxers to make the move to MMA and is known the world over for her time spent inside the squared circle.
The Filipina-American from Las Vegas has a huge following in the Philippines, and is one of the reasons why she's one of ONE Championship's biggest stars.
"Looking forward to getting back in the cage. Putting the styles together," said Julaton, on her official Facebook page. "Announcement on the way."
Julaton was last in the ONE cage this past December, in a unanimous decision win over Walaa Abbas in Manila. Prior to that, she suffered her first career MMA loss to Malaysia's Ann "Athena" Osman in a close, tough bout.
Even more recently, Julaton was victorious inside the boxing ring as she figured in a unanimous decision win against featherweight Yolanda Segura in Durango, Mexico.
One of Julaton's aspirations is to become a two-sport world champion, something she hopes to achieve in the very near future.
Following her success in boxing, Julaton has transitioned fairly well into MMA. While she has had her struggles with the grappling and wrestling aspect of the sport, being completely foreign to Julaton due to her boxing background, she has made improvements.
These improvements can be credited to her choice of coaches, collegiate wrestling legend Ricky Lundell, and long-time lead trainer Angelo Reyes.
Working out with the Bishop Gorman High School Wrestling Team, Julaton has made strives to upgrade her mat skills in the cage, and it showed in her last outing. This is in large part due to Lundell, who also trains various other MMA stars based in the United States.
Reyes on the other hand, continues to hone Julaton's unique striking skills, which instantly gives her an edge inside the cage.
ONE Championship will hold another spectacular fight card in Manila later this year, and it's by no stretch of the imagination that Julaton could wind up on that card, given her huge following in the country.
No announcement has been made however as the specifics have yet to be finalized.
