Filipino veteran Rene “The Challenger” Calatan is moving into contender status in the ONE Championship strawweight division.

The 39-year-old is riding a four-bout win streak and is looking to continue that run when he meets undefeated Indonesian star Stefer Rahardian at ONE: REIGN OF KINGS in Manila on July 27.

He is at the top end of his mixed martial arts career now, but just before he embarked on his journey, he was hit by an unspeakable tragedy that saw him lose the love of his life.

“We met in 1995, when we were in our fourth year in high school,” he says, remembering his late wife Edlyn.

The pair both went to the same high school and soon fell in love. They then went on to study at college in the same city. But their relationship wasn’t well received by Edlyn’s parents, who denied her the chance to enrol for a second semester.

“As parents, they wanted security for their daughter, so why would she go out with someone like me, who is dirt poor? They thought she would be better off looking for a rich man instead of me,” he explains.

Edlyn wasn’t to be denied, and she ran away from home to be with Catalan, who tried to convince her to go home so they could start again once they had both finished their studies.

“She walked in the highway and told me that if I told her to go home, she would kill herself,” he says.

“Of course, all I could do was run and save her. I was not able to finish my studies because of love.”

Against the wishes of their parents, the pair decided to live together and, in 1998, they got married. But then their relationship was struck by tragedy when Edlyn was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism.

“It was toxic and needed treatment immediately,” says Catalan.

“All my earnings were poured into her medication, and I came home with practically nothing, because she was hospitalised for about six months. Those were two silent years where I stepped away from competition and coaching so that I could take care of my wife.”

The family were then hit with another dose of tragedy when they lost a son. It left Catalan a broken man, and while Catalan’s pastor helped him through the difficult times, Edlyn met with a private doctor, who recommended radiation therapy to improve her condition.

But things went from bad to worse during Catalan’s preparations for his first ONE Championship bout.

“A couple of weeks before I went home, she asked me to take her to the hospital,” he says.

“My older brother said that her sickness got a bit worse, and that they needed to go to the hospital. I told him that I was almost home, and that they could just wait for me. I prepared for my match, and the next day, my brother said that she was gone.”

Catalan was due to make his mixed martial arts debut against Alex “Little Rock” Silva in April 2013 – just two weeks after he laid his wife to rest.

Remarkably, Catalan decided to go through with the bout.

“I thought about backing out, because my life was pointless,” he admits.

“I was persevering because of that one person, and she was gone. However, I also thought about my children. I needed to live for them.”

The bout did not go Catalan’s way, and things did not get much better in the bouts that followed, with another loss and a no-contest.

But he has turned his form around since and is riding an impressive four-bout win streak heading into his upcoming bout with Rahardian.

Now, his inspiration comes from his two families; his children and his teammates at Catalan Fighting Systems.

“My main source of inspiration is my children,” he says. “Secondly, my athletes, so that I can feed them and help them improve their lives in the province.”

With his gym thriving and with his professional career currently enjoying a rich vein of form, Catalan is finally able to put the tragic times behind him and push forward with the next chapter of his life.