Fantasy booking the UFC’s inaugural event in Manila

 

MANILA, Philippines – After years of waiting and several teasers, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will stage its first event in the Philippines on May 16 at the 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization formally unveiled its trip to the fight capital of the Southeast Asian region on Thursday, January 29 at MOA Arena’s Coral Way lobby.

In spite of the public confirmation of UFC’s venture on Philippine shores, no matches were announced for its event titled “Fight Night 65,” which will be aired internationally on the company’s digital network Fight Pass.

Questions arose as mystery shrouds the identities of the prizefighters who will participate in the aforementioned fight card.

The archipelago is fortunate that it has been chosen to host one of the 45 MMA events that the UFC will hold this year, but due to the long wait, Filipino fans will be eager see household names in action.

Eleven events prior to UFC Fight Night 65 have a fully loaded lineup, giving the MMA league a similarly challenging situation when it ran a show in Singapore and Macau last year.

But, if we had our way, here is how the card would look.

Carlos Condit as event headliner

According to UFC’s press release, Carlos Condit (29-8) attracted more than 4,000 avid hooligans when he had a meet-and-greet session and open workout at the Trinoma Activity Center in Quezon City this past November.

Condit drew more numbers than the three UFC superstars who previously visited the country, such as Alexander Gustafsson, Cung Le and Urijah Faber.

With the warm reception that he received in the Philippines, the 30-year-old native of Albuquerque, New Mexico makes him an eligible frontrunner to be the main attraction of UFC Fight Night 65.

It’s also worth noting that Condit served as a headliner in four of his last ten UFC outings and is open to the idea of fighting in the Philippines.

Although he is still undergoing rehab for his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, Condit eyes a return by first quarter of 2015 as he had been cleared to resume his MMA training and sparring, leaving an opening to land as the top bill of UFC Fight Night 65.

The potential opponents for the No.4-ranked welterweight Condit are Tarec Saffiedine and Dong Hyun Kim, who hold the ninth and tenth spots respectively in the rankings.

Saffiedine (15-4) was last seen in action last November when he yielded to Rory MacDonald via third-round technical knockout, while Kim (19-3-1, 1 NC) had a losing effort against Condit when the two crossed paths in July 2011 before winning five of his next seven Octagon appearances.

Searching for the available Filipino-American fighter

Filipino-American fighter Mark Muñoz seemed to be the natural selection to headline UFC Fight Night Manila, but he’ll likely ditch out of the equation due to his scheduled fight against Roan Carneiro at UFC 184 on February 28 (March 1 in PH).

Like Muñoz, UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and one-time flyweight title challenger Chris Cariaso are likewise out due to prior engagement.

Lawler is set to defend his title against either Johny Hendricks or Rory MacDonald in the United States, while Cariaso is booked to square off with Henry Cejudo at UFC 185 on March 14 (March 15 in PH).

With Muñoz an uncertainty for the Manila trip, the more feasible alternative with Pinoy lineage would be John Dodson.

Dodson (16-6) earned a UFC contract in December 2011 when he won season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter as a bantamweight competitor.

After moving down to flyweight and scoring back-to-back victories over the likes of Tim Elliot and Jussier Formiga, Dodson challenged division titleholder Demetrious Johnson in January 2013, but he suffered a unanimous-decision setback.

“The Magician” rebounded from the disappointing defeat to Johnson, drubbing Darrell Montague via knockout in October 2013 before thwarting John Moraga eight months later.

Dodson’s impressive routing of Moraga put him next in line for another shot at Johnson’s gold-plated belt, but his title opportunity was derailed due to an injury.

The 30-year-old standout went under the knife to repair a torn meniscus as well as his ACL in July of last year.

Since the recovery timetable is at least six to eight months, it is highly probable that Dodson will be ready to fight at UFC Fight Night 65.

Dodson recently expressed his desire to lock horns with Ian McCall, who is slated for UFC 183 versus John Lineker.

The other option for Dodson is Joseph Benavidez, which makes sense from a matchmaking standpoint as the Fil-Am is regarded as the 125-pound division’s No. 1 contender, while Benavidez occupies No. 2 seat in the rankings.

Showcasing homegrown talents inside the Octagon

It is already a giveaway that Filipino MMA fans will have someone to look forward to at UFC Fight Night 65 as it will most likely feature homegrown talents like Mark Eddiva and Roldan Sangcha-an, who made their respective promotional debuts in 2014.

Eddiva (6-1) had his first Octagon appearance in March of last year when he outpointed Jumabieke Tuerxun via unanimous decision.

His second UFC outing earned him his first career loss as Eddiva yielded to Edimilson “Kevin” Souza by second-round technical knockout on the preliminary card of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 season finale three months later.

Eddiva was originally booked for UFC Fight Night 55 in November against Mike De La Torre, but he was forced to pull out due to an injury.

Like Eddiva, Sangcha-an (4-1) also held the Team Lakay banner inside the UFC cage when he served as a late replacement for Jon Delos Reyes to face Richie Vaculik at UFC Fight Night 43 in June.

Unfortunately, Vaculik spoiled Sangcha-an’s UFC introduction by dominating the Pinoy combatant in three rounds.

Putting former PXC stars on the spotlight

Pacific Xtreme Combat (PXC) has become a staple in the country since its Philippine venture in June 2011, holding 13 of its last 23 fight cards in Manila.

In addition, the Guam-based organization produced talented Filipino fighters such as Mark Striegl, Ale Cali, Crisanto Pitpitunge, Glen Ranillo and Rolando Gabriel Dy.

Aside from producing gifted MMA combatants, PXC served as a footstool for several competitors to be noticed by the UFC.

If there is difficulty in tapping big names in order to attract more audience, there are four former PXC stars that are available to become part of the UFC Fight Night 65 lineup.

– Louis Smolka (8-1) is a former PXC flyweight champion and owns notable victories over Ale Cali, URCC veteran Jessie Rafols, and the league’s current division titleholder Alvin Cacdac. He has a 2-1 record inside the Octagon since his promotional debut in January 2015.

– Jon Tuck (8-2) is the first Chamorro native from Guam to be signed with the UFC and has won his first six professional fights by stoppage in the first round, including an eight-second knockout of Philippine MMA favorite Eduard Folayang. 

– Hyun Gyu Lim (13-4-1) attracted UFC’s attention by astoundingly finishing five of his PXC opponents and capturing the promotion’s welterweight belt. He is coming a knockout win over Takenori Sato at September’s UFC Fight Night 52 in Japan. 

– Russell Doane (14-4) had three outings under the UFC banner in 2014, defeating Leandro Issa and Marcus Brimage before bowing down to Iuri Alcantara via unanimous decision in September.

Acquiring available fighters in the market

UFC’s arrival on foreign land is viable that it gives opportunities to free-agent fighters and to those stalwarts who are flaunting their wares in the independent circuit.

If the organization wants its Pinoy patrons to see fireworks at UFC Fight Night 65, there are four men who have been familiar figures in the local MMA limelight but are more than able to provide it.

– Lowen Tynanes (6-0) is the reigning King of the Cage junior welterweight champion and made a brief run as a lightweight in ONE Fighting Championship, beating the likes of Felipe Enomoto and Vuyisile Colossa. The Hawaiian is infamously recognized for his bloody victory over Eduard Folayang in December 2012.

– Jang Yong Kim (8-5-1) possesses the PXC featherweight championship belt. The gritty Korean is the first fighter who gave Mark Striegl his first career loss by applying a modified submission hold to get the tap.

– Will Chope (21-7) had sporadic appearances on the Philippine MMA scene before earning a UFC contract in late 2013. He had his first Octagon appearance in January 2014, but he lost to UFC veteran Max Holloway. He was booked to face Diego Brandao during the summer period of last year when the UFC surprisingly handed him the pink slip right after the official weigh-in due to a past case of domestic assault. UFC Fight Night 65 is the proper venue to make his comeback as he is one of the most eyed prospects in the Asian region.

– Eric Kelly (11-1), one of the most successful products of Philippine MMA, has won nine of his 11 professional bouts via submission and is currently the No. 1 contender for the ONE FC featherweight title. His rocky relationship with Asia’s largest MMA promotion for the past few months can create leeway for his participation at UFC Fight Night 65. – Rappler.com