Dipolog fighters dominate Cebuano rivals in ZaNorte’s Kasa Kaza Super Kickboxing

CEBU, Philippines — Fighting behind enemy lines proved too much to handle for the three Cebuano mixed martial artists as they fell one by one at the hands of Dipolog City’s homegrown talents during the action-packed Kasa Kaza 2022 Festival Super Kickboxing card watched by a deluge of fans at the Zamboanga del Norte Sports Complex in Dipolog late Thursday night.

First to go down was John Lano, who was stopped by Art Marquez of DBG Team in the second round.

Lano’s comrades from Lapu-Lapu City Striker MMA in Kim “Super Jet” Bisbal and Isaac “One Punch” de la Cruz suffered the same fate.

Bisbal bowed down to Bryle “The Notorious” Osaraga of MCM Ariana MMA

The 24-year-old Bisbal actually sent Osaraga crashing on the mat with a powerful backfist strike halfway through the third and final round but Osaraga, obviously still dizzy and groping for form, bravely weathered the tough ordeal on the way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by unanimous decision.

In the equally-exciting main event, De la Cruz got knocked out by Dipolog’s hometown idol Jude “Wonder Boy” Jaictin also of MCM Ariana MMA.

Jaictin launched a deadly combination of solid punches and knee strikes to the head and body to flatten De la Cruz for good at the 2:18 mark of the second round.

Down and out, the Oponganon warrior laid prone for several minutes before being helped out of the cage.

Organized by the FMC (Full Metal Clash)-Combat Sports of Dipolog through its directors Ivan Stranahan and Rhandolf Sindo in partnership with Deep Dream Events Management Services, the slambang show was part of the series of sporting events beefing up the first ever Kadaugan sa Katawhan sa ZaNorte or Kasa Kaza Festival in this progressive southern province of southern Philippines.

It is spearheaded by Zamboanga del Norte Governor Rosalina “Nanay Nene” Jalosjos and Dapitan City Tourism chief Apple Marie Agolong.

“This is part of our aggressive drive to drum up sports tourism in the province of Zamboanga del Norte,” said Agolong.

“I know that there are a lot of potentials in our place that just needed to be tapped that is why we are holding more activities for them to showcase their talents. Who knows they will make it big someday in their respective fields especially in this discipline (MMA),” added Agolong, a former three-term councilor of Dapitan.

Aside from kickboxing, marathon, beach volleyball, lawn tennis, night motocross, mountainbike, and golf are also being featured in the week-long spectacle that will wind up today, July 2. — EBV