Jeremy Miado's repeat flying knee KO attempt part of game plan vs. Miao Li Tao

Jeremy Miado had a shot at completely replicating his 2019 finish of Miao Li Tao, but he would still knock him out anyway. ONE Championship (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—In their first showdown in 2019, Jeremy Miado shocked the ONE Championship community when he knocked out Miao Li Tao with a flying knee.

No wonder why he wanted to do it again in their rematch on Friday night at ONE: NextGen at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Miado admitted on Wednesday that he looked at finishing Miao again with a knee strike.

"Ang game plan ko doon sa strikes, flying knee and then uppercut yung expected ko na makaka-knockout sa kanya," Miado said.

Already putting on a boxing clinic early into the fight, Miado tried doing the flying knee again to Miao right at the midway point of the first round.

This time, however, Miao got to hold Miado's right leg to prevent it from hitting his head and eventually survived Round 1.

"Dahil aware na siya masyado doon, yung posture niya maayos na, so in-expect ko talaga na hindi talaga tatama nang maayos yung flying knee," Miado rued.

The jabs and hooks, however, already staggered Miao in Round 1, and in the following round, Referee Justin Brown had seen enough after Miado unleashed another flurry of punches that Miao failed to retaliate from and stopped the fight there.

As it turned out, Miao paid the price for his surprising move to engage Miado in the striking aspect rather than go for his more comfortable ground game.

"Ang in-expect ko, pwede niya akong libangin sa strike ng mga one minute bago mag-takedown, pero nagulat ako na lumaban talaga siya ng striking," Miado added.

He even added that aside from his haymaker plans, he also did some sprawl training in hopes of containing Miao on the canvas.

What further helped Miado knock out Miao, however, was when Brown ruled that Miao was hit at the eye area by a legal strike when Miao thought otherwise.

When Miado heard Brown to play on, he went on the offensive and ended the bout at the 52-second mark of Round 2.

"Alam ko sa cheek tumama. Parang pumikit yung mata niya at hinawakan niya, kaya nagtaas siya ng kamay. Naghintay ako kung ano yung magiging reaction ng referee. Nakita naman ng referee na suntol yung tumama tapos legal, so kinontinue ko na yung [pagsuntok] para ma-finish yung laban," Miado further said.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno