July 14, 2012, the premier MMA promotion in the Philippines, Pacific X-treme Combat crowned the second homegrown Filipino MMA champion in its history at PXC 31 in the Ynares Sports Arena.
Crisanto "The Slugger" Pitpitunge decisively knocked out Justin "The Shocker" Cruz in a bantamweight title fight which saw the Team Lakay standout take home the coveted title.
Pitpitunge caught Cruz with a thunderous right straight which immediately dropped the Guamanian and the punches on the ground were nothing more but academic.
The Team Lakay fighter became the second homegrown Filipino PXC champion after Ale “The Young Gun” Cali defeated Jesse Taitano for the flyweight title.
In the co-main event Tristan Arenal rebounded from his loss to Jon Tuck at PXC 28 with a come from behind submission win as he defeated Richie Redman. In a hotly contested battle of Filipino-American fighters, Redman was getting the better of their stand-up exchanges for the better part of three rounds, before Arenal caught him with an armbar to get the win with almost 30 seconds left in the fight.
Here are the full results of PXC 31:
Crisanto Pitpitunge def. Justin Cruz
1st round, knockout (punch)
Pitpitunge new PXC bantamweight champion
Tristan Arenal def. Richie Redman
3rd round, submission (armbar)
Trevin Jones def. Guzman Pia-yas
1st round, submission (rear-naked choke)
Troy Bantiag def. Joseph Mercado
Unanimous decision
Alvin Cacdac def. Rex Wa-O
1st round, submission
Eugene Toquero def. Victor Torre
1st round, TKO (doctor’s stoppage)
Rolando Gabriel Dy def. Alde Alonzo De Soza
2nd round, submission (rear-naked choke)
Micky Favis def. Glen Ranillo
Unanimous decision
Arex Montalban def. Jerry Legaspi
1st round, knockout
Also, in a stunning turn of events, it was announced that Ale "The Young Gun" Cali will be defending his flyweight championship against fellow Filipino Erwin Tagle of Submission Sports Philippines.
Erwin Tagle has not been in the cage for some time but has expressed his excitement in challenging Ale Cali for his title and is looking forward to putting on a good show for the next PXC in the Philippines this coming September 2012.