‘Ultimate’ fate in GAB’s hands

Refusing to go underground like other combat groups to avoid regulatory supervision, Philippine Association of Mixed Martial Arts (PAMMA) president Alvin Aguilar said yesterday recognition from the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) is vital in establishing the legitimacy of local-style "ultimate fighting" as a professional sport.

Aguilar, a 28-year-old martial arts expert, promoted the first Universal Reality Combat Championships (URCC), featuring 19 bouts, at the Casino Filipino in Parañaque last November. The show was a huge box office hit as over 3,000 fans — including celebrities Richard Gomez and Van Dolph — packed the amphitheater with at least 300 more turned away because tickets were sold out.

Aguilar has dutifully followed the GAB’s instructions on how to gain recognition for PAMMA. GAB chairman Eduardo Villanueva is expected to preside in the final hearing to decide PAMMA’s fate at the GAB office in Makati this afternoon.

"We’ve complied with all the GAB regulations," said Aguilar who operates the Defense Tactics Center (Deftac) in B.F. Parañaque and the popular Red Corner gym in Salcedo Village, Makati. "We’ve registered PAMMA with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We’ve formalized our organizational structure. We’ve outlined the rules governing the conduct of our fights and we’ve assured the GAB of the highest standards of safety precautions."

In the first URCC, Aguilar said he arranged for two ambulances on standby and three doctors, two physical therapists, and four paramedics were at ringside. The fighters were tested for drugs and steroids before and after their bouts. There were no incidents of serious injuries.

Ultimate fighting is probably the fastest-growing combat sport in the world. The concept of ultimate fighting is to determine the superior combatant in all the martial arts disciplines–boxing, freestyle wrestling, judo, taekwondo, kungfu, pentjak-silat, karate, and others. It is a global phenomenon that has captured the imagination of sports fans.

While US-style ultimate fighting has virtually no restrictions, Aguilar said PAMMA uses a modified no-holds-barred format.

"We’re not into brutality," explained Aguilar. "We are promoting a fighting skills contest. We’re like professional boxing only in our case, we are not restricted to using fists. Our idea is to test the skills of martial arts practitioners against each other to determine combat superiority. That’s why we’ve outlawed elbow strikes because they lead to bloody cuts. We’ve also banned neck cranks, kicking or kneeing the head when a fighter is down, and hitting the spine, neck or back of the head."

Aguilar said using headgear and protective face masks will rob the sport of its attraction. "In professional boxing, fighters don’t use headgear or face masks," continued Aguilar. "The same principle applies to us. We’re not amateurs. We’re professionals. And as professionals, we are guided by rules and regulations that consider safety, fairness, and quality of competition. "

There are reports that underground "ultimate fighting" bouts are being held in bars and nightclubs around town. Because the fights are unsanctioned and unregulated, the fighters are exposed to high risk. Aguilar said he will never put to risk the lives of PAMMA combatants.

"We’ve had about four meetings with the GAB officials," said Aguilar. "There are about 15 active martial arts gyms with over 200 fighters in Manila alone. We’re all hoping to get GAB recognition as a professional sports group so we can openly promote our shows and give the fans the opportunity to enjoy the kind of action that only Filipino-style ultimate fighting can provide."

Among the martial arts represented in PAMMA are non-traditional Filipino street-fighting styles such as yaw-yan (sayaw ng kamatayan), sari-an (sariling pamamaraan), suntukaran todo bakbakan and away kalye.

Aguilar, an exponent of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Royce Gracie’s style of ground fighting, said he’s planning to stage the second URCC on April 12 at the PhilSports Arena. Headlining the card is a middleweight duel between former US Navy Seal Kaceka Muniz and Brazilian grappler Jacao Bispo. Aguilar said 15 bouts are confirmed and three more will be added to the show, pending the results of tryouts involving about 100 applicants. Fighting in the card will be Southeast Asian Games wrestling champion Marcus Valta.

"We’re inviting the Belgian weapons fighting expert Mico to also perform in our April show," said Aguilar. "We’re holding qualifying tryouts at the Red Corner gym this Saturday to fill up the rest of the card. We’ve got about 100 more fighters on the waiting list."

Former professional fighters Gary Garay and Pinoy Montejo are in the roster of active mixed martial arts practitioners. They scored impressive wins in the first URCC card. Garay stopped Carlos Andrade while Montejo halted Glenn Evangelista in a pair of slugfests.

In Filipino-style ultimate fighting, Aguilar said the protagonists fall under the category of striker or grappler. A striker takes a standing position and uses his fists and feet as his primary weapons of attack. A grappler looks to throw down his opponent and force a submission, using such wrestling finishers as the guillotine choke hold, the arm bar, and the leglock. On the canvas, the objective is to work for a "mount" position where a fighter holds a prostrate opponent defenseless.

Each fight is scheduled for two 10-minute rounds. A match is stopped when there is a knockout, a submission, a corner throws in the towel, the referee sees a fighter unable to defend himself or the ringside physician rules a protagonist is unfit to continue because of an injury. At the end of two rounds, a draw is declared by the referee if neither fighter was able to establish clear superiority.

In the first URCC, each fighter was guaranteed a P2,000 purse and a P5,000 bonus for a win. The fighters came from all walks of life–students from exclusive private schools, veterans who’ve engaged the likes of Steven Segal and Bruce Lee in sparring sessions, former professional boxers, instructors, bodyguards, and hard-core enthusiasts.

Aguilar said he’s convinced that Filipino mixed martial arts practitioners are among the best in the world. He plans to send the best URCC fighters overseas to compete for world championships in international tournaments to bring honor to the country.