Asian fighters create stir in UFC

MANILA, Philippines - Asian fighters continued to make a dent in the Ultimate Fighting Championship as South Korean Bang Tae Hyun and Japanese Kiichi Kunimoto and Michinori Tanaka all won their bouts in UFC 174 in Vancouver, Canada yesterday.

Bang landed 40 strikes on his way to a third round knockout victory over Kajan Johnson, winning Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night.

Kunimoto was the other Performance of the Night winner after he made quick work of Daniel Sarafian with a first round submission romp.

Bang improved to 17-8 (win-loss) while erasing the stigma of a unanimous decision loss to Mairbek Taisumov in UFC’s first venture in Southeast Asia at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore last Jan. 4.

Kunimoto improved to 25-5-2 (win-loss-draw) with one no contest while posting his second win a row in the octagon after debuting with a win in Singapore.

Tanaka bested Roland Delorme with a unanimous decision to remain undefeated in 10 mixed martial arts fights including another unanimous decision over Filipino Crisanto Pitpitunge in Pacific X-Treme Combat 37 at the Ynares Center in Pasig last year.

Demetrius “Mighty Mouse” Johnson retained his flyweight title by beating Ali Bagautinov via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 174.

It was Johnson’s fourth straight successful title defense after snaring the title with a split decision over Joseph Benavidez in UFC 152 two years back.

Knowing that MMA is growing fast in Asia, considered as the birth place of most martial arts, the UFC has tapped the Asian market including Southeast Asia where it has held several fight cards in Japan, South Korea, Macau and Singapore.

UFC has invaded outfits based in the Asia Pacific including PXC, which has held three to four fights in the the Philippines annually, by signing Asians into its fold.

The Phl also has its share of fighters in the UFC, among them Mark Munoz, Brandon Vera and Mark Eddiva.