MANILA, Philippines — Team Lakay's Stephen Loman hopes to have shot at the ONE bantamweight world championship after his gritty win over Japan's Shoko Sato at ONE X last Saturday.
Though not being able to fully execute his gameplan against the Japanese fighter, Loman believes it's only a matter of time before he gets a crack at either the division's top contenders or the title itself.
"I'm very happy kasi nacheck ko ulit yung panalo dito and ayun, may chance ako na tuloy tuloy [umakyat] sa rankings and makalaban yung the best fighter," Loman told the media after the fight.
Loman is third in ONE's athlete rankings after just two fights in the promotion. But sitting above the former Brave CF bantamweight titlist are Kwon Won Il and former champ Bibiano Fernandes.
And Loman hopes to face them or reigning titlist John Lineker in the near future.
After his performance against Sato, though, where he struggled to get good shots in because of his opponent's style, Loman knows there's still much work to be done.
"Alam nga natin yung style [ni Sato], very slick siya sa kanyang galaw. Nakita ko rin na pag sumusuntok ako nakikita niya rin kaya dun ako nahirapan, di ko nakuha yung mga range ko, yung tamang distance," said Loman.
"Doon ako parang nawawalan ng mga combination. Pero sabi ko sa isip ko na ipush ko pa yung sarili ko," he added.