THE UGB13 MMA: Foreign Invasion lived up to its billing when an American and a couple of Pakistan fighters trounced their respective Filipino foes on Friday night to win the inaugural championship titles before an appreciative crowd at the Circuit Makati Open Dome in Makati City.
Brad Robinson of Oklahoma USA became the first-ever middleweight champion of this aggressive MMA promotion under the co-partnership of Underground Battle and the World Series of Fighting-Global Championship, following a submission victory over the game Mark Palomar in the third of their five-round title bout.
Robinson, who trains at Fight-G MMA Academy, found Palomar a hard nut to crack in the first two rounds and decided to bring the fight to the ground where he maneuvered an arm triangle on the way to the victory.
Palomar, a muscular 5’10” dynamo out of Hyper Biagtan MMA team, actually got the 2nd round with his effective striking that put Robinson on the defensive most of the time.
“I give to Mark (Palomar), he is a very game opponent. Thankfully, I had my ground game going that put me to victory. Thank you so much for this opportunity,” said Robinson.
In the co-main event, Uloomi Karim of Team Fight Fortress knocked out Michael Mondradgon of Catalan Fighting System right in the first of their three-round bout to bag the inaugural bantamweight title.
His teammate, Ahmed Mujtaba, made it a double celebration for Pakistan when he pocketed the featherweight title at the expense of Rodian Menchaves, winning by way of submission, also in the first round.
Karim, who upped his amateur record to six victories, won the hearts of the crowd, saying he is “one of the good guys” back in his native country that is one of the most affected by global terrorism.
“I want to put my country in the map of global MMA. I admire Filipinos because you are great warriors. You are against and I am against terrorism. Together, we will fight,” said the proud son of Gilgit, Islamabad.
Mujtaba, a native of Queta, Islamabad, matched Karim’s impressive victory when he put Menchavez to sleep using a sleek rear-naked choke. It took time for referee Arnel Lomibao to halt the bout, as he wanted to give more chance to the Masbate native to escape with the belt on the line.
Menchaves could not afford to tap anymore as Lomibao removed Mujtaba from top position, declaring the bout a TKO victory in favor of the Pakistani.
Presenting the specially crafted gold-minted belts to the winners were UGB MMA president and founder Ferdie Munsayac, business partner Toots Aldeguer, WSOF vice president for operations and international matchmaker Jason Lilly and WSOF owner Dunessa Hesser.
Undercards
Two more foreign fighters displayed excellent skills on the cage to emerge victorious against their respective foes.
Czech fighter Michal Vostry, who trains in Legacy MMA in Boracay, scored a TKO win over muay thai specialist Patrick Manicad of Makati City, right in the first round of their lightweight bout.
Vostry and Manicad furiously traded punches and one of their left hooks hit both fighters simultaneously. Vostry suffered a cut on his nosetrils, while Manicad was instantly down, prompting the referee to jump in and stop the fight in favor of Vostry.
Another Legacy MMA fighter, Anton Larsson of Sweden, also scored an impressive win—a 25-second TKO over RJ Redula of Team Elorde Tandang Sora—in their catchweight bout at 120 pounds.
In the only women’s bout of the night, Jeneylyn Olsim of Tribal Torogi Baguio City, submitted Dolores Meek via armbar right in the first round of their pinweight battle.
The rest of the bouts saw Franz Galvez of Hitman Extreme Boxing win via TKO over Junboy Kim-ay (Team Lucero Fitness Gym) in the strawweight division; Arben Escayo (Real Men Fighters) triumphed by submission against Jorlan Formentera (Hyper Biagtan MMA); Norman Agcopra (D Elements MMA) stopped Reiner Gervacio (De Tomas MMA); Arnel Ylanan (Project 360 X) submitted a win via armbar Chu Borbon (Real Men Fighters); lightweight Mario Sismundo (Team Fit Box) knocked out John Rey Larena (Elorde Tandang Sora) and featherweight Jojo Orao (Elorde Tandang Sora) trounced Mark Valero (Lucero Fitness).
Bigger and better
Munsayac said the success of the UGB13 has opened bigger opportunities, not only to the promotion, but also the Filipino fighters.
“We will have more events in the coming months. More talented Filipino fighters will definitely come out and will definitely challenge the current champions. And with the WSOF on board, it’s getting more exciting,” said Munsayac, who revealed that he will organize at least 10 UGB-WSOF events this year.
“The WSOF will also hold its own Philippine launch that will formalize its entry to the Asian market. More top foreign fighters will be paraded in two one or two big WSOF events. We are proud to be part of all these. MMA is definitely exploding in this part of the world,” said Munsayac.
The former US Navy chief also revealed plans to have future succeeding events gain a “professional” tag. He said all the requirements are being prepared to have the promotion and officials and players under it are registered with the Philippines’ Games and Amusement Board.
With this, UGB-WSOF will be in the same league as the Pacific Extreme Combat and One Championship as the country’s top pro MMA promotions, parading top-caliber Filipino and foreign athletes using professional rules.
This means that UGB fights will be more exciting using professional rules like allowing knees and elbows to the head.
The UGB13Foreign Invasion-WSOF, supported by Padi’s Point Bar and Restaurant, Hotel SOGO, Circuit Makati, Phenon fightwear, Berkshire Hathaway and Bex Sunglases will be telecast by Viva Sports TV over its PBO cable channel on Jan. 30 at 8:30 p.m. and will have replay on Jan. 31 at 10:30 a.m.