Fil-Am subdues Guam bet in PXC Combat

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Harry Sarmiento used a spectacular kimura, or arm lock, to force Guam’s Ronnie Borja to submission just two seconds left in the fourth of their scheduled five-round championship duel to snatch the lightweight crown in the Pacific X-Treme Combat 26 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Resorts World Manila last Saturday.

Sarmiento found a hole in Borja’s ground defense for that kimura lock that sealed him his 33rd win spanning 55 fights to crown himself the new lightweight champion of the event held in the country for only the second time.

“It feels good fighting in the Philippines,” said the 27-year-old Sarmiento, at Ilocos Norte native whose family migrated to Hawaii when he was five.

Sarmiento actually dominated the match, showcasing his much-improved ground-and-pound skill that kept Borja in check the entire bout. Borja fell to 7-2 (win-loss),

Full mount, half-mount and even Borja with a full-guard didn’t stop Sarmiento, who has fought in various mixed martial arts leagues before agreeing to fight in the PXC this year, from unleashing his wide range of arsenal – fists, feet, knees, elbows and even his left shoulder.

“For a couple of months I’ve got beaten up by bigger, better guys in training and I guess it paid off,” said Sarmiento, who also won his first fight on local soil in the PXC24 last June against Alex Castro.

Bantamweight Ale Cali, a native of Davao City, shared the spotlight after punching his way to an upset knockout victory over a heavier and more experienced Josh Alvarez, another Fil-Am, needing just two minutes and five seconds to fashion out the victory.

“I’ve trained hard for this,” said the 20-year-old Cali, who fought for three years in the pro-boxing circuit before turning into MMA, in Filipino.

Fil-Am Tristan Arenal took just 1.42 minutes to knock out Korean Gyo Pyung Hwang while another local bet, Jason Ablasi, also pulled off a surprise win over a taller Kyle Aguon of Guam via unanimous decision in their bantamweight clash.

Filipino Crisanto Pitpitunge won over Castro, who broke a hand and retired before the second round.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rican Chris Manuel, fighting out of the popular American Top Team, won via a referee-stopped contest 1.03 remaining into the second round over a bloodied American Eben Kaneshiro.

Kaneshiro appeared to have given up when he dropped on all fours but it took the Filipino ref some 15 seconds to intervene. Kaneshiro was left with a bloodied nose and mouth.