SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
MANILA, Philippines – The title tilt losing skid for Filipino homegrown talents continues as Ernesto Montilla Jr and Glen Ranillo failed to capture the Pacific Xtreme Combat (PXC) belts in their respective championship campaigns at PXC 46 on Saturday night, November 15 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, Metro Manila.
American-bred competitor Alvin Cacdac submitted Montilla with a rear-naked choke in the third round to bag the vacant PXC flyweight title.
Although Montilla was busy throwing stiff jabs and hammering overhand rights in the opening moments of the first frame, Cacdac efficiently countered the attacks with leg kicks and waited for the right opportunity to score a belly-to-belly takedown.
On the ground, Cacdac secured a side control position, which gave him the chance to lock a neck crank that rattled and forced Montilla to face the mat with his guard down.
The 5-foot-6 native of San Jose, California was on the edge of giving his opponent the curtain call as he pounded serious shots to the head while on the floor, but the bell that signified the end of the round saved Montilla from total destruction.
In the second stanza, Cacdac showcased his crisp counterpunching, answering every jab from Montilla.
After landing a solid left hook, Cacdac’s eye was accidentally poked by Montilla, forcing veteran referee Tony D’Angelo to pause the action.
When the bout resumed, Montilla and Cacdac engaged in a close-quartered exchange, concluding the round two with both men exchanging vicious knees to the midsection.
Montilla started the third frame by turning up the volume of his punches, reaching in with his left jab and then clobbering his follow-up straight.
Cacdac attempted for a Judo hip throw, but he unsuccessfully executed the maneuver, unintentionally giving Montilla his back.
However, Cacdac intelligently used the canvas to reverse the position and climb onto Montilla’s rear to lock the fight-ending submission and get the tap at the 2:43 mark of the third round.
“In MMA, you should always be ready because you will never know where the fight will go. I always prepare for worst-case situation in the cage. I knew he had my back, so I needed to find a way to turn things around,” Cacdac tells Rappler.
With the title-winning performance against Montilla, Cacdac improves his prizefighting record to 15-10 and has now won two matches in a row since yielding to former PXC titleholder Louis Smolka in February 2013.
Meanwhile, Montilla snaps his two-fight winning streak and downgrades his win-loss card to 4-3.
On the other hand, Ranillo (4-3) yielded to Japanese stalwart Chuji Kato (6-1-1) in a lopsided contest for the available PXC lightweight strap by unanimous decision with the scores of 49-45, 50-44 and 50-44.
The 25-year-old Kato exploited Ranillo with his grappling pedigree, securing takedowns in all five rounds and fastening different submission holds on the 5-foot-10 Filipino.
Ranillo was not able to escalate any offense versus Kato as he was pacified on the ground and stayed busy defending the Japanese combatant’s attempts to make him wave the white flag.
Montilla and Ranillo join the list of Filipino fighters who had failed to replicate the feat of Honorio Banario, Ale Cali and Crisanto Pitpitunge to win a world title in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA).
Before Montilla and Montilla had their respective championship cracks, two Pinoy MMA bets had already received world title opportunities on an international stage this year, but they failed to hoist the Philippine flag aloft.
Geje Eustaquio bowed down to Adriano Moraes by second-round submission for the inaugural ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) flyweight crown in September, while Rolando Gabriel Dy yielded to Kyle Aguon via controversial split decision for the vacant PXC bantamweight title this past October.
Despite the continuation of the losing streak in championship fights, Pitpitunge edged out Rambaa Somdet via split decision in their three-round flyweight encounter earlier in the night.
His decisive triumph over Somdet may earn him a date with Cacdac for the 125-pound weight class’ top prize. – Rappler.com
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.