Honorio Banario bags hard earned victory over Adrian Pang

MANILA - Former ONE featherweight champion Honorio Banario of Baguio City's Team Lakay extended his winning streak to five following a hard fought victory over mixed martial arts veteran Adrian Pang on the undercard of "ONE: Heroes of Honor" Friday night at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Both fighters traded strikes, as anticipated, in the opening round. Pang put the pressure on while Banario moved and launched his strikes in a more calculated manner.

The Australian kept daring the Filipino to stand in the middle and trade, to which Banario replied with his trademark Wushu kicks on top.

Honorio "The Rock" Banario stuck to his game plan and sealed a close split decision win against grizzled veteran Adrian "The Hunter" Pang. #HeroesOfHonor #Manila #MartialArts pic.twitter.com/ETdPJ4lmlu

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 20, 2018

Pang kept moving forward in round two, attacking both the head and body of Banario. Pang was relentless on his pressure as his body attacks seemingly took its toll on Banario.

Banario looked to move and  counter with his left hook in round three. He kept Pang at bay with his kicks and never allowed the visiting fighter to get within striking distance.

Both fighter stuck to their game plan until the final bell but not without unleashing hard strikes in the final seconds of the contest.

Banario escaped the bout with a split decision nod, improving his record to 13-6 while Pang fell to 22-12-2.— DVM, GMA News