MANILA, Philippines – The first-ever bareknuckle exhibition bouts are set to spice up the Philippine fight scene as Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) announced it is staging its “Bare Madness” card on October 27 at the Xylo in The Palace in BGC, Taguig.
URCC founder Alvin Aguilar said the time to hold and appreciate bareknuckle fights has come.
“When we pioneered the MMA fight concept back in 2002, people thought it was too violent, too risky. But look at MMA now,” Aguilar said during Thursday’s press conference at the Xylo.
“In the same way, it's worth noting that BKF (Bareknuckle Fight) is steadily gaining popularity in the US and Europe, so it's only a matter of time before it enjoys mainstream acceptance here,“ he added.
Aguilar stressed that URCC’s scheduled bareknuckle exhibition bouts will put a premium on the health and safety of the fighters.
For his part, URCC Global Chairman Arnold Vegafria believes that the sport — where speed and skill can make up for lack of sheer strength — has the potential to produce world-class Filipino fighters.
"With the harvest of Filipino athletes in recent global competitions, we believe that Filipino fighters are meant for global domination, particularly for this more adrenaline-inducing sport,” Vegafria said.
“Also, we at URCC feel that Filipino fight fans are clamoring for something more exciting, and this could very well what we've all been waiting for,” he continued.
Pre-event matches will feature today’s top-rank Filipino mixed martial artists such as John Ornido battling Janedie Bernardo in 135-pound class duel; Ruel Catalan facing Edrion Macatangay in a 125-pound clash; and Rex de Lara taking on Jayson Margallo in 125-pound fight.
The Bareknuckle Fights, on the other hand, feature Rocky Vergara against Marvin dela Cruz; Kimbert Alintozon against JV Baldonasa; and Mark Alcoba against Zarco Gales.
Kenjhons, alias “Mr. Mainit”, will go up against Map Soberano in the main event.