Filipina boxing champion coming to Dubai
Staff Report
DUBAI – She trained in the same gym with boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and has two world boxing championship belts to her name. Now, Ana “The Hurricane” Hulaton” is heading to Dubai this month for her second win in her mixed martial arts career.
The WBO Super Bantamweight and IBA Super Bantamweight champion has signed up with ONE FC, marking her first step towards becoming a two-sport champion. She steps into the ring on August 29 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
What made her switch to MMA after a successful pro career in boxing? Hulaton is no stranger to mixed martial arts, having trained at it since childhood. In fact, it was her martial arts teacher who introduced her to boxing.
Boxing was where she met Pacquiao, working out in the same gym and receiving training from the same coach. It was a lifetime experience, she said.
“Coach Freddie Roach would work with me before he worked with Manny, which reinforced the concepts Roach was teaching me. I was fortunate to watch and learn at the highest level from Manny Pacquiao and Coach Roach during the first 6 years of my professional boxing career,” she told XPRESS.
“Manny Pacquiao has always been a great role model and encouraged me to train hard and to always remember my heritage. That experience taught me the mindset of a world class fighter. Everything I do in life will reflect what I do in the ring and that idea went hand in hand with my martial arts discipline. It was a lifetime experience.”
She is thankful to the Filipino community all over the world for their support. “They play a big part of me continuing to do what I do and I carry my supporters with me in my heart every time I'm in the arena,” she said.
Explaining why is a go-getter in any field, she shares what she describes as the most important lesson she has learned: “My Head Coach [in mixed martial arts], Angelo Reyes, as he would tell me that everything I learned in the arts can be applied in everyday life. He'd tell me, ‘If you don't have it yet, it's because you didn't want it bad enough.’”
