A trademark move, known as the marcelotine, propelled comebacking Mark Striegl to win by submission over Ilonggo champion Paige Alitao on Sunday evening at the Circuit Events Ground in Makati City.
The 35-year-old Striegl got down to business with the high elbow guillotine choke at the 3:11 mark of Round 3 to claim the Grappling Championship honors of the Kombat Sports Kalayaan’s Mixed Martial Arts Festival.
Alitao, a known Brazilian jiujitsu fighter, got pinned down on Striegl’s signature move near the end their three-round showdown.
The last time Striegl used this maneuver was in 2018, when he fought off Do Gyeom Lee for a Universal Reality Combat Championship title.
“It’s the same finish that I was able to fight tonight. It’s one of my favorite moves and it feels great. A finish is a finish because it’s one of my favorite techniques,” said Striegl.
It was Striegl’s first MMA fight in more than a year as he lost three straight encounters.
The win has inspired him to go into more MMA fights later this year.
The match was part of the Kombat Sports Kalayaan’s MMA Festival, which was moved the Poblacion for safety reasons and avoid traffic congestion in the area.
In the other cards, a bloodied Singaporean Sim Kai Xiong brought down Godwin Langbayan with a foot strike to the tummy, for a technical knockout triumph, a few seconds into the second round of their 135-lbs encounter.
Elorde Sandigon prevailed by unanimous decision in his 125-lbs match with Indonesian Andriawan Dharmita, while Joemar Gallarza took out Robertson Abion via TKO in the second of their 115-lbs showdown.
Fil-Australian Josh Grove used the rear-naked choke to put away Reden Manguiat at the 1:17 mark of the second round in the 145-lbs class, while Jhen Buzon stopped Collin Biron in the women’s 115-kg contest via TKO-ground and pound.
Noah Caberos took the 125-lbs honors after using the mounted guillotine choke in the third round to beat Duanne Pascua.
Rex de Lara topped the 72-kg action in stopping Marlon Caingat via rear naked chokehold in the 16-second mark of the second round, while Florentino Coronel won via head kick in the third round over Francis Cabugay during their 135-kg clash.