Carlos Yulo, Aira Villegas to carry PH flag in Olympics closing ceremony | ABS-CBN

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Carlos Yulo, Aira Villegas to carry PH flag in Olympics closing ceremony

Carlos Yulo, Aira Villegas to carry PH flag in Olympics closing ceremony

ABS-CBN News

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Filipino athletes Carlos Yulo and Aira Villegas. Mohd Rasfan and Lionel Bonaventure, AFPFilipino athletes Carlos Yulo and Aira Villegas. Mohd Rasfan and Lionel Bonaventure, AFP

MANILA -- Medalists Carlos Yulo and Aira Villegas will be the Philippines' flag-bearers in the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Sunday.

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) confirmed the development on Saturday afternoon.

Yulo had delivered two gold medals for the Philippines after ruling the vault and floor exercise in men's artistic gymnastics, while Villegas had an Olympic debut to remember, capturing a bronze in the women's 50kg division of boxing.

They will be accompanied in the closing ceremonies by fellow boxers Nesthy Petecio -- also a bronze medalist -- Carlo Paalam, Hergie Bacyadan and Eumir Marcial, along with weightlifters John Ceniza, Elreen Ando, and Vanessa Sarno.

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Hurdler Lauren Hoffman will also be part of the 20-strong delegation that also includes boxing and weightlifting coaches.

Thanks to Yulo's haul, the Philippines improved upon its performance in the Tokyo Games in 2021, when they won four medals -- one gold from Hidilyn Diaz, two silvers from Petecio and Paalam, and a bronze from Marcial.

As it stands, the Philippines is in 29th place in the medal table.

The Olympians are expected to arrive in the country on Tuesday, upon which they will be honored at the Malacañan Palace by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

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MMA: Pacio's decision to train with bigger fighters pays off vs. Brooks

MMA: Pacio's decision to train with bigger fighters pays off vs. Brooks

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Joshua Pacio ahead of his match against Jarred Brooks for the undisputed ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion at ONE 171 in the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar on February 20, 2025. Handout/ONE ChampionshipJoshua Pacio ahead of his match against Jarred Brooks for the undisputed ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion at ONE 171 in the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar on February 20, 2025. Handout/ONE Championship

MANILA -- While training for his highly-anticipated trilogy bout against Jarred Brooks, Filipino MMA star Joshua Pacio took a big risk that paid off in a major way.

Proving that practice makes perfect, Pacio put himself to the test during his sparring sessions. There, he was put in precarious positions and choked on a daily basis.

His regimen was rewarded when he defeated Brooks in co-main event of ONE 171: Qatar last Thursday at the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, allowing him to unify the ONE Strawweight MMA World Title.  

The Lions Nation MMA representative endured relentless pressure from Brooks in the first round. He survived a bevy of chokes from the American before responding in kind in the second round with suffocating pressure of his own to get the TKO win. 

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For "The Passion," he wouldn’t have survived those submission attempts if he hadn’t been consistently choked by #2-ranked bantamweight MMA contender Stephen Loman during training sessions. 

"The D'arce [was] not actually close, maybe the guillotine and the last one [was] like 70 percent. But you know, there's a lot of guys choking me out in the gym. I've been there a hundred times in that position, and I know the feeling," he said. 

"I'm used to it. Imagine Stephen Loman choking me every day in the gym." 

Pacio had entered the bout as a massive underdog, but he never succumbed to self doubt.

"I'm confident in my training, in my preparation. Every position we studied in training camp, every position that Jarred [would] do to me. You know, lots of hours, we drilled it. Situational, we drilled it," he said. 

"My jiu-jitsu coach, my wrestling coach, we've been working on every position that Jarred [would] do. So I [was] very confident that wherever the fight [went], ground, stand up, I'd [be] very confident."

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