Gina Iniong is currently at#5 in the official ONE Championship rankings. But the atomweight won’t be competing any time soon.
Iniong is pregnant and will be taking an extended break from the sport according to Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao. However he says she has not officially retired,
“She thought about retirement, but I told her, ‘Don’t think about it yet.’ I told her to focus on her pregnancy and then maybe she can make decisions after if she really wants to stop,” he said.
Iniong has a record of 9-4 and is coming off back to back decision wins. She has beaten the likes of Jihin Radzuan, Jenny Huang, Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol and Mei Yamaguchi during her MMA career.
According to Sangiao the recently married Iniong decided this was the perfect time to start a family,
“Even before the SEA Games, she was telling me that she wanted to focus on her family. She said they’re getting older and they already want to have a child”
The 30 year old also won a gold medal in kickboxing at the SEA Games in Manila last December. She got married a few months earlier and postponed her honeymoon in order to represent her country.
Time is on her side should she decide to compete again and Sangiao sees this as a possibility,
“We cannot really tell if Gina Iniong will return. It’s her decision. We cannot really say,” he said.
When Iniong is removed from the atomweight rankings there will be no shortage of contenders to fill the vacancy at #5. Among the fighters currently unranked are undefeated prospects Itsuki Hirata and Stamp Fairtex.
