Jeremy Miado. Handout
Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado has come a long way from his days as a young fighter in the Philippines who was having a hard time stringing together consistent wins.
Now, Miado targets his fifth-straight victory when he welcomes Mansur Malachiev to ONE Championship in a three-round MMA strawweight bout at ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov this Saturday inside Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Miado credited the risk that he and his wife, Chesla, took when they moved to Marrok Force in Thailand during the pandemic. After all, that was when “The Jaguar” started ascending the strawweight division.
However, the decision was far from easy.
“We had to leave our 1-year-old son. It wasn’t easy, but we had to take the risk,” Miado said.
“Back when I was in the Philippines, I was inconsistent in ONE. I would win a fight and then lose the other. I didn’t have a lot of training partners in the Philippines. I was only working with my wife and my brother, and I was also their coach.
“It was hard. I had to make that sacrifice for me to reach my goals and win a championship.”
Ultimately though, the 30-year-old believes the sacrifices are paying off – not only because of how his career is going right now, but due to all the skills he acquired while in Thailand.
“The jump was worth it. Not only because I’m winning and moving up the rankings, but what makes it all the more worth it are the things that I’ve learned,” he said.
“I’ve seen how they train, the drills that they do, techniques, how they hold camps – the little things that were missing when I was in the Philippines. I’ll be carrying that forever, and I can teach that when I return to the Philippines.”
However, while he’s thankful for his time in Thailand and all the relationships he’s been building there, he promises he is going to return home once all this is over.
“I don’t think [staying in Thailand for good] is going to happen. I’m going to go back to the Philippines. It’s still home for me,” he said.
“I’m only doing this for our future. Sacrifice a bit, and if things settle down, then we’ll go back to the Philippines.”