Montilla crushes Cali in PXC 43

MANILA, Philippines - Unheralded Ernesto Montilla Jr. beat Ale Cali with a crushing right armbar submission in the first round in the main event of the PXC 43 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City Saturday night, putting him on track for a crack at the vacant flyweight crown.

It was the quickest victory posted in the night as Montilla, a native of San Pedro, Laguna, notched his fourth win in his last five bouts while lining himself up for a shot at the vacant flyweight title vacated by Hawaiian Louis Smolka, who moved to the Ultimate Fighting Championship early this year.

“I knew going into this match that the only way I could beat him (Cali) is to submit him, which I got to do,” said the soft-spoken Montilla in Pilipino.

The triumph moved Montilla closer to earning a chance to challenge for the 125-pound belt, perhaps against contenders Roldan Sangcha’an of Team Lakay and Rambaa Somdet of Thailand.

Sangcha’an, who interestingly dealt Montilla his lone defeat, and Somdet were supposed to fight for the vacant crown but the latter sustained injury in training, forcing the organizers to cancel their proposed bout.

With Somdet out, the PXC may be forced to set up a Sangcha’an-Montilla rematch.

In other bouts, Glenn Ranillo knocked out Hawaii’s Reno Remigio also in the first round of their lightweight duel while Gina Iniong bested Japanese Mei Yamaguchi with a split decision win in the lone women’s bout of the card.

In a bantamweight bout, Rolando Dy, son of former boxing champion Rolando Navarrette, won over Korean Han Bin Park via unanimous decision.

Other winners were Dean Bermudez, who knocked out Kid Orais; Alex Montalban, who made short work of Lorde Yamit; Jenel Lausa, who trounced Venson Delopere via unanimous decision; Roy Doliguez, who edged Jerome Wanawa via split decision; and Joseph Mercado, who won over Dominiel Eduave via unanimous decision.