Huge crowd seen in ultimate fighting tonite

It’ll be a war to end all wars as the country’s top mixed martial arts fighters battle for supremacy in the second Universal Reality Combat Championships (URCC) at the PhilSports Arena tonight.

Promoter Alvin Aguilar said tickets for P400, 350, and 250 are still available for the 17-bout show, headlined by Brazilian jiu-jitsu warriors Adre (Jacao) Bispo and Tony Torres, but they’re running out fast. A banner crowd is expected as tickets for P1,000, 700, and 500 were sold out three weeks ago.

The fights are sanctioned by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) which approved the application of Aguilar’s organization the Philippine Association of Mixed Martial Arts (PAMM) to be under the supervision of the Boxing and Wrestling Division in a Board meeting last Wednesday.

Each fighter will be paid a P3,000 appearance fee. Winners will receive a P10,000 bonus apiece.

The bouts are scheduled for three rounds. The first round has a time limit of 10 minutes. The second and third rounds are set for five minutes each. There will be a two-minute rest period in between rounds.

The URCC will use modified "ultimate" fighting rules. The "ultimate" philosophy is what drives the URCC whose objective is to determine the superior combatant in all the martial arts disciplines-boxing, freestyle wrestling, judo, taekwondo, kungfu, pentjak-silat, karate, and the Filipino streetfighting styles of yaw-yan (sayaw ng kamatayan), sari-an (sariling pamamaraan), suntukaran todo bakbakan, and away kalye.

Aguilar said a fight is stopped on a knockout or submission. A fighter may opt to surrender by tapping out. The referee may also halt a bout if he rules a fighter unfit to continue or the ringside physician recommends a stoppage because of injury. The bout will be automatically declared a draw if it lasts the distance.

An "ultimate" fight doesn’t usually go the limit. In the first URCC before a packed crowd at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater last November, only one of 19 bouts went the full route.

"Ultimate" fighters are either strikers or grapplers. A striker uses his hands and feet to fight in an upright position while a grappler’s goal is to take down an opponent for a mount position and force a submission through a variety of finishing holds, including the guillotine choke, the leglock and the armbar.

Aguilar said 15 referees and ringmen will be rotated for the bouts. A referee and four ringmen, watching the action at ringside from the four sides of the ring, will be assigned for each fight.

To assure the safety of the fighters, Aguilar arranged for four doctors, six paramedics, and two standby ambulances to be available. The GAB will be represented by at least 10 officials, including Boxing and Wrestling Division chief Noli Flores and prominent ringside physician Dr. Nasser Cruz, at ringside.

Aguilar got the GAB’s nod for sanction after appearing in three formal hearings the last four months. He conducted a seminar on mixed martial arts rules for over 40 participants at the Red Corner gym in Makati recently with GAB chairman Eduardo Villanueva, Flores, and Dr. Cruz observing the proceedings.

Aguilar held qualifying fights to determine the pairings for tonight’s card. Some 200 fighters are on the waiting list for future URCC shows.

Tonight’s show, dubbed "Night of Champions," features eight winners from the first URCC show, including four who will face off. The first URCC winners matching up are Glen Sumanoy versus Emerson Mateo and Larry (Pinoy) Montejo versus Darwin Buenaobra.

Former pro boxer Gary Garay, a first URCC winner, was scratched from the program after testing positive for shabu last Tuesday.

Montejo, Juanito Fabila, and Joe Escriber are among the former pro boxers in the card. Montejo, 27, went the distance and lost to Manny Pacquiao on points in 1995. He has fought the likes of former world champion Hiroki Ioka and reigning World Boxing Council bantamweight titlist Veerapol Sahaprom. Fabila became a referee and a Muay Thai fighter after boxing for the late Grego Garcia. Escriber, 26, is a former Philippine superbantamweight and featherweight boxing champion.

The main event pits Bispo and the Belgium-based Torres. Bispo is from the Manimal jiu-jitsu stable while Torres is from the Barra Gracie camp.

Aguilar said the modified "ultimate" rules will not allow headbutting, eye gouging, biting, hair pulling, fish hooking, groin attacks, putting a finger into any orifice or any cut or laceration, small joint manipulation, striking the spine or nape, elbow strikes, throat strikes, clawing or pinching, grabbing the clavicle, kicking or kneeing the head of a grounded opponent, stomping, kicking the kidney with a hell, spiking an opponent to the canvas in a pile driver, throwing an opponent out of the ring, holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent, spitting, using abusive language, timidity, interference by the corner, throwing in the towel, and any lock that strains the neck joint.

Tipped to steal the thunder from the main event are the contests pitting Montejo versus Buenaobra, Richard Lasprilla versus Ronald Gavileno, T. J. Tiu versus Nico D’Haenen, and Fritz Rodriguez versus DIT Torres.

Lasprilla, 20, is undefeated in mixed martial arts bouts and won a gold medal at a training tournament in Los Angeles two years ago. The La Salle student used a rear naked choke hold to force Hermes Bueza, Jr. to concede in the first URCC show.

Tiu, 22, is a six-foot, 236-pounder who was sensational in the first URCC card. He got a full mount on Del Bacho in the early going and rained punches on his hapless opponent, prompting referee Darwin Basas to step in.

Rodriguez, 25, is the tallest fighter at 6-1. He takes on Torres of the Philippine International Taekwondo Federation in a lightheavyweight bout before the main event.

Aguilar said he will likely stage the third URCC event in Cebu where there is widespread interest in the martial arts.