Comeback kid: Eddie Ng not feeling the pressure as he returns to the cage after successive losses
Hong Kong-born fighter takes on talented Filipino Banario in ONE Championship in Macau on August 13 needing to improve his 7-3 record as he puts career-threatening wrist injury behind him
Comeback kid Eddie Ng Gar-wei knows he faces a must-win situation in his next fight in Macau next weekend but for a fighter who has everything to prove, the pressure doesn’t seem to be getting to him.
Returning to the cage more than a year after suffering his second straight MMA loss, the “Magician” will have his work cut out when he takes on Filipino Honorio “The Rock” Banario (9-6-0) in a lightweight bout on the undercard of “One: Heroes of the World” set for Cotai Arena at the Venetian Macao on August 13.
Hong Kong’s MMA fighter Eddie Ng to return to the cage in Macau
The 30-year-old Hong Kong-born fighter, who is based in Singapore but grew up in the northeast of England near Durham, knows he must win big to make amends for his last bout in May 2015 which ended in defeat against Costa Rica’s Ariel Sexton (second round submission).
With a 7-3 record, Ng doesn’t want any more losses and put his career at another standstill.
Then there’s the issue with his wrist.
Ng has twice suffered career-threatening injuries to his right wrist, the first time two weeks before his previous loss in 2014 to Dutchman Vincent Latoel and then again after losing to Sexton last year.
Ng said on Thursday that he’s fit and healthy for his return to the cage and wasn’t at all worried about his wrist, his opponent or the fear of losing again.
WATCH: Eddie Ng's last fight against Ariel Sexton in May 2015
“There’s no pressure on me really,” said Ng, who was in Hong Kong on Thursday to promote the Macau fight. “Every athlete suffers some sort of injury and I am not trying to focus on it. This is something I have no control over. As long as I do my best, that’s good enough for me, win or lose,” he said.
Ng decided not to have surgery on his injured wrist and preferred long months of rehabilitation.
“The doctors said I only had a 70 per cent success rate if I had surgery. Whether it’s successful or not, there was going to be certain restrictions in that I would lose quite a lot of range in motion on it and I didn’t know whether it was going to be pain free or whether I will be back to 100 per cent strength. It was not worth the risk,” he said.
Ng said 26-year-old Banario, a former ONE featherweight world champion, will be a tough opponent in Macau.
“He’s tough in all areas and he’s been one of the more active fighters on the circuit. He’s good at wrestling and fighting on the ground and striking. I know what he brings to the table, but I don’t focus on what he does but what I will do,” said Ng.
The Hong Kong fighter will be on the undercard of the main event, which features former ONE flyweight champion Adriano Moraes of Brazil taking on Andrew Leone of the United States for the interim ONE flyweight world championship.
There will be a total of eight bouts on the card in Macau and it includes a fight featuring 18-year-old Christian Lee (5-0-0) of Singapore, the younger brother of ONE women’s atomweight champion Angela “Unstoppable” Lee, challenge Martin Nguyen of Australia (6-1-0).
