First Pinoy MMA fighter looks forward to UFC Fight Night Manila

MANILA, Philippines – Onassis Parungao, the first Filipino fighter who competed professionally in mixed martial arts (MMA), is delighted over the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first live event in the country on May 16.

Before Mark Muñoz and Eduard Folayang carved their niches in MMA, Parungao served as the nation’s inaugural flag-bearer in the sport as he made his prizefighting debut in September 1995 on the undercard of UFC’s “Brawl in Buffalo” event, which was the organization’s first and only trip to the state of New York.

A Kung Fu practitioner who wore a white shirt with the word “Philippines” imprinted on it, Parungao was matched with a street brawler in the name of Francesco “Fang” Maturi, whom he compelled to wave the white flag by hammering vicious strikes on the head.

After his successful UFC stint, Parungao competed in Absolute Fighting Championship’s one-night tourney, submitting Pavel Byshiv with punches before yielding to Ricardo Morais.

Despite having a lucrative offer to fight under the banner of the Japanese-based organization Pancrase, Parungao opted to have an early retirement and continued his training with Lam Kwong Wing to become a Sifu, which would qualify him to teach Kung Fu.

Now a headmaster of Cheng Yee Kung Fu School in Ledyard, Connecticut, Parungao hopes for a good turnout at UFC Fight Night 66, which takes place at the 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila.

“I think it’s awesome that the UFC will be in Manila. I wish the best of luck to all the competitors and will be watching and hoping for a successful event,” he told Rappler.

Five Pinoy combatants are booked to take part of the aforementioned fight card, including Muñoz and Team Lakay standouts Mark Eddiva and Roldan Sangcha-an.

According to the 44-year-old Parungao, he would have wanted to participate at UFC Fight Night 66 if he was 20 years younger, but he would still prefer the traditional format of MMA.

“If I was in my 20’s again, I’d probably fight. However, I still prefer the older format,” he said.

During his time, cagefighting leagues were not yet implementing the unified MMA rules, the most prevalent rule-set in the world today that is used most notably in the UFC since 2000.

“Before, we have no weight classes and we compete three fights in one night. Only eye gouging and biting were forbidden. It was much more entertaining to people to match up different styles versus each other. They were way more fun to watch,” Parungao stressed.

UFC Fight Night 66 is headlined by a featherweight super-fight between Urijah Faber and Frankie Edgar.

Tickets to UFC’s maiden visit in the fight capital of the Southeast Asian region will be available on Friday, March 13. – Rappler.com