CJ De Tomas outwrestles Alvin Ramirez to keep URCC flyweight crown

Nissi Icasiano

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CJ De Tomas outwrestles Alvin Ramirez to keep URCC flyweight crown
Find out the results of URCC's 'Vindication' fight card here

MANILA, Philippines – CJ De Tomas had the perfect recipe to outwit a dangerous stand-up specialist like Alvin Ramirez as he resorted to his superb grappling pedigree to keep the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) flyweight title in his possession. 

Both highly-decorated prizefighters headlined URCC’s “Vindication” fight card, which took place at the Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom in Pasay City on Sunday, November 6. 

Utilizing his wrestling background against the highly-regarded Yaw-Yan Buhawi striker, the 19-year-old standout from Zamboanga City easily carved a lopsided decision victory over Ramirez with 50-45, 50-45, and 48-47 marks across the board. 

De Tomas’ intention to put the 5-round title confrontation on the mat was clear as day. He immediately took Ramirez down on the ground and consistently denied his opponent’s attempts to have on-feet exchanges. 

De Tomas was perfect in all of his takedown attempts, dragging Ramirez to the canvas with a total of 7 conversions. 

Although De Tomas had the upper hand in the grappling department, that did not stop Ramirez from inflicting serious damage as he created a gruesome gash on his foe’s forehead with a hard knee shot. 

Despite the gory laceration on his head, De Tomas stood his ground and persisted in haunting Ramirez with his suffocating wrestling arsenal to have his hand raised by unanimous decision.

With the one-sided affair versus Ramirez, De Tomas successfully defended the URCC flyweight belt for the first time. He also remains undefeated with a professional record of 7-0. 

Ramirez, meanwhile, snapped his two-fight winning streak and downgraded his prizefighting slate to 7-9. 

Lee survives American foe

After putting himself in a perilous position in the first round, Do Gyeom Lee (3-1) rallied back in the succeeding periods of the fight to beat Ryan Dela Cruz (3-3) and retain the URCC featherweight championship. 

Lee was on the brink of losing his silver-plated strap when Dela Cruz decked him with a solid right straight that completely dazed him in the first canto of the championship contest. 

Dela Cruz also opened the floodgates of blood from his forehead with a haymaker that bothered Lee and took the Korean out of his game in the initial proceedings of the contest. 

Although he was on the receiving end of Dela Cruz’s relentless assault, Lee found his groove in the second round, where he banked on his leg kicks to slow down his American opponent. 

In the third and fourth frames, Lee created enough space to avoid Dela Cruz’s spurts and toyed his adversary with takedown shots. 

Dela Cruz tasted his own medicine in the opening moments of the fifth round as Lee dropped him with a quick right hand.

Lee sought to end the 5-round meeting on a strong note as he fished for a finish with a volley of vicious strikes along the cage fence, but his opponent was able to endure and make it until the final bell. 

The young Korean had no other choice but to settle for a unanimous decision triumph – 50-45, 50-45, and 48-47. 

Bulaong cops first URCC women’s title

Geli Bulaong (2-0) has inserted her name in the history books of Philippine mixed martial arts as she became the first-ever URCC women’s flyweight champion by defeating Chinese combatant Yan Qui Han (1-1) via first-round technical knockout. 

In only her second professional bout, Bulaong made sure that she was walking out of the Marriott Grand Ballroom with the URCC strap around her waist as she effortlessly thumped the 18-year-old Chinese visitor. 

From start to finish, Bulaong torched Yan with her heavy hands and staggered her Chinese counterpart with thunderous knees to the head. 

Bulaong wrote the final sentence of the championship clash by slumping Yan to the canvas and then grabbing a full mount position to rain down merciless blows. 

In the final second of the period, referee Franco Rulloda stepped in to wave it off and awarded the victory to Bulaong. 

Hofmann is first URCC two-division champ

Light heavyweight kingpin Chris Hofmann (5-1) captured the vacant URCC middleweight championship by stopping John Andajar (1-1) in the second round. 

Hofmann got the job done by delivering a leaping knee to the head and then forced Andajar to verbally submit with a follow-up flurry on the ground at 1:18 of the second round. 

The 26-year-old Filipino-Swiss became the first fighter in URCC’s 14-year history to be a two-division titleholder. He looks to simultaneously defend both belts in the future. 

In other bouts, Jiar Castillo was declared as the inaugural winner of URCC’s “Fight Farm” reality television series by outpointing Norman Agcopra via unanimous decision. 

With his victory over Agcopra, Castillo received a P100,000 paycheck and earned a multi-fight contract with URCC. 

Meanwhile, former URCC featherweight champion Reydon “Red” Romero (10-6) returned to his winning ways by edging Miguel Mosquera (2-2) in a grueling encounter via unanimous decision. 

Strawweight standout Solomon Dultra (4-1) sent MJ Abrillo (5-7) to sleep at 1:38 of the second round with a deep triangle choke, while Drex Zamboanga (6-2) made quick work of Sem Bicaldo (1-1) by submitting his opponent with a rear-naked choke at 4:01 of the first round.

Arjay Bongala (1-1) was forced to quit on the stool before the third round as advised by his doctor, giving Rodian Menchavez (2-1) the technical knockout win in the opening match of the event. – Rappler.com

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