URCC Set to Make Big Time Return This October

Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), the Philippines' first and longest running professional mixed martial arts promotion, is set to make its long anticipated return with a huge card scheduled for October 23rd. URCC: Takeover, the promotion's 25th event, will take place at the SM Mall of Asia Arena and will feature some of the best and brightest in the local and international MMA scene.

URCC: Takeover. October 23rd at the SM-MOA Arena.

The upcoming card will be the big event debut of URCC's new cage. Since its inception, the promotion had opted to utilize a ring similar to that of boxing during their contests. With most international MMA promotions using cages however, the URCC finally decided to have a cage designed for use during their own bouts. This was decided not to merely keep up with the trend however, as the URCC is known to willingly let their world-class fighters compete internationally, and having a cage is aimed to make it easier for them to acclimate when crossing over.

The URCC cage is also intended for the promotion's goals of strengthening its own international presence, and was unveiled last July during a relaunch party at Republiq at the Newport Mall in Pasay City. Giving fans a preview of URCC bouts inside the cage, three fights were held during the said event.

For October's card, the new cage will be the battleground for what is currently listed as 10 bouts, headlined by a contest between Deftac Philippines' Red Romero (7-5) and Malaysia's Jian Kay Chee (4-5), who trains out of T-Rex / Cross Muay Thai. The main event will be for the URCC Featherweight Title, which Romero looks to defend for the first time.

Other names expected to see competition on the card include local favorites Alvin Ramirez, Angelito Marungay, and Calor Baduria,and many others. With the aforementioned Pinoy fighters known to always make contests exiting, it is no surprise they are some of the many who have played a hand in the URCC's longevity.

For more information on URCC's upcoming big event and to know where to purchase tickets, make sure to visit their site, URCC-MMA.com, and liking their official Facebook page, Facebook.com/URCCMMA.ph.

PACIFIC X-TREME COMBAT (PXC) USHERING A NEW ERA OF PHILIPPINE MMA.

The Pacific Xtreme Combat, a running Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion in the Asia Pacific, whose emergence in the Philippines is nothing short of great. Created by Joey Calvo a Nova Uniao BJJ Blackbelt under Renato “Charuto” Verissimo who has been training BJJ for 15 years, the promotion has surely been making waves. Given the increasing popularity and the growth of the sport of MMA, Pacific Xtreme Combat or the PXC provides a wealth of exposure to serious local fighters who would want to make it big in this young, up and coming sport.

In the early 2000’s MMA blew up with ZUFFA’s purchase of the UFC and the positive changes it brought such as unified rules in MMA and the establishment of weight classes. Soon after the growth of MMA abroad, the Philippines also followed suit with the creation of the Universal Reality Combat Championships or URCC by touted MMA promoter Alvin Aguilar. As the sport grew in the country, various organizations have also entered the country in pursuit of creating more venues for local talent to showcase their skills.

With all these venues and advancements in the sport of MMA in the Philippines, there was still something missing, something that aspiring fighters have been looking for and that is better exposure for their talents, not only in the local front but regionally and internationally as well. And this is where the brilliance of the PXC comes in, for as much as the URCC has sparked the flame of MMA in the Philippines; the PXC has arrived to pour gas on the flames taking it to the next level.

TRACK RECORD

When you look at the history of fighters from both organizations, it is very clear that the PXC has had more fighters that have signed contracts to fight in Pro events in the United States. While both companies claim to be the best breeding grounds for local MMA fighters wanting to go pro in the US and face elite competition, it appears that the PXC is the only company consistently sending out fighters. In fact, the PXC has moved more fighters to the UFC, Bellator Fighting Champions and Strikeforce than any other fight organization in the Pacific Region. Some notable fighters are Rich Clementi (UFC), Harris Sarmiento (Strikeforce), Joe Tiamanglo and most recently Jon Tuck who made an appearance on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).

RULES AND REGULATIONS

One very significant factor serious MMA fighters should consider when looking to make it to elite level competition are the rules that the organization they fight for follows. If your sight is set on the UFC, and the other major promotions in the USA, then the PXC is the choice. Not only does the PXC follow the MMA Unified Rules of Conduct, but fights take place in an octagon cage. If it was just Muay Thai or boxing that fighters are looking for, then they will feel more at home with the URCC’s 5 rope square boxing ring and absurd two, 10 minute rounds of fighting.

PUBLICITY AND EXPOSURE

Although both promotions (PXC and URCC) have great websites and a ton of videos online, the PXC is the obvious better choice for fighters to get recognized and noticed in the world of MMA. PXC broadcast live on TV5's AKTV channel which airs their fights nationwide with replays to be able to catch the fights again. I also read in a press release, that the PXC currently are working towards broadcasting fights to several US and European markets. This is great for local fighters to get noticed nationwide in the country as their fights would appear on free TV, but also gain international exposure on top of that.

Of course these are just some major factors that separate both promotions, and while they both provide a channel for fighters to showcase their talents and there may be other factors in place, if I however were laying my money on my own fight career, I would certainly look at making my living with the PXC.

The chart below highlights compatisons between the PXC and URCC.

Click Here to zoom-in

Full fight card for URCC Cebu 7

Checkout the URCC Cebu 7: Domination Fightcard!


FIGHT #1

Alde "the Pit bull" De Zosa

Bullit Fighting System - Cebu

vs

Arven Baldilovar

Ilo-Ilo aliance - Bacolod

140 - 149lbs.


FIGHT #2

Von"the spawn" Donaire

Deftac Cebu - Cebu Butuan

vs

Romely Alaba

Extreme MMA - Butuan

150 - 159 lbs.


FIGHT #3

Arnel"the shooter" Ylanan

Bullit Fighting System - Cebu

vs

Richie "akiyama" Rusauro

Yaw Yan Ardigma - Cebu

120 - 129 lbs.


FIGHT #4

Jimmy "the silencer" Yabo

Xtreme MMA - Cebu

vs

Urtych "the tank" Allarin

Seldef Butuan - Butuan

140 - 149 lbs.


FIGHT #5

Jan Selaryo

Deftac Bacolod - Bacolod

vs

Allan "the gameplan" Attup

Butuan Xtreme MMA - Butuan

160 - 169 lbs.


FIGHT #6

Renan "the flash" Noble Franca

Cebu

vs

Jonathan "the spartan" Sumagat

Davao

120 - 129 lbs.


FIGHT #7

Richie Redman vs Alcer Lezada

Ilo-ilo Fighting Alliance - Ilo-ilo Davao

150 - 159 lbs.


FIGHT #8: VISAYAN PINWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

Victor Torre

Deftac Bacolod - Bacolod

vs

Geronimo Etac

Yawyan Ardigma - Cebu

110 - 119 lbs.


FIGHT #9: VISAYAN BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

Rex De Lara

Bacolod

vs

Carry "the prince" Bullos

Cebu

130 - 139 lbs.


FIGHT #10: SUPERFIGHT

Eduard "The Landslide" Folayang

Team Lakay Wushu - Baguio

vs

Wadson "Knockout" Teixeira

Legacy Gym - Thailand

160 lbs. catch weight

Visit the URCC website for more details and their official fight poster.

Eduard Folayang looking to Rock 2012

The sport of MMA is rapidly growing here in the Philippines and Eduard "Landslide" Folayang is the most famous fighter to have emerged in Philippine MMA. He regularly represents the country at Wushu, winning a gold medal at the recent South East Asian Games, making him one to watch for.

He is a reigning champion of the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), the longest running promotion in South East Asia but has not fought in the Philippines since March 2010. He fought three times for Martial Combat in Singapore and, when ONE Fighting Championships was founded in 2011 he was the first name on the list of potential headliners.

ONE FC has a budget and viewership which is unprecedented in Asian mixed martial arts history and Folayang’s bout with A Sol Kwon was the fight of the night on the inaugural show. The URCC champion survived a broken nose to win against the experienced Korean who had been on a six fight win streak.

As his international reputation grew on the back of that performance it seemed unlikely that Folayang would ever defend his URCC title, or fight for the promotion which gave him his big break. However late last year a groundbreaking idea called the ‘ONE FC Network’ was born with a simple concept, for some of the top promotions in Asia and Australia to work together to share resources, contacts, ideas and fighters.

The network currently includes DREAM in Japan, Cage Fighting Championships in Australia, Road FC in Korea, DARE Championships in Thailand, and the URCC in the Philippines. This means that Folayang’s ONE FC contract allowed him to potentially fight for any of the promotions in the network and the URCC wasted no time in offering him a first defence of his welterweight title in almost two years.

He will be making a homecoming at URCC Cebu 7 on January 13 when he will fight against Wadson Teixeira in front of the Filipino fans. Folayang will have plenty of support but with that comes serious pressure to defeat an opponent who is a Brazilian National Muay Thai champion and holds a brown belt in BJJ.

Folayang took time out from training at Team Lakay Wushu, which is also home to URCC champions Roy Docyogen, Kevin Belingon, and Honorio Banario, to discuss his thoughts on the fight with Wadson and the future, below is his interview with fighters.com.

What are your thoughts on your opponent Wadson Teixeira, do you know anything about him?

Well, I think Wadson has a great stand up game as he is the Brazilian National Champion in Muay Thai and he has also has good submission skills. Other than that I don’t know so much about him.

Wadson is probably the best BJJ fighter you have ever faced, are you worried about the possibility of getting submitted?

Everything happens in MMA but I’m not worried about being submitted because I train every day at Team Lakay Wushu and I am confident in my skills on the ground.

There is talk of Ole Laursen fighting you for your URCC title later this year, have the promoters spoken to you about that?

I was supposed to fight him at ONE FC 1 but he got injured. I’m still not sure whether that fight will ever happen.

When do you think you will be fighting for One FC again?

This year for sure perhaps at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in March or if not maybe in July.

Your last four fights have been inside a cage, will it feel strange being in a ring again when you fight for URCC?

Yes, there will be some adjustment again on my part fighting in the ring.

The ONE FC network would allow you to fight in Dream, CFC in Australia, Road FC in Korea and Dare Championships in Thailand as well as ONE FC. Have you discussed the possibility of fighting for any of these promotions and are you hoping to keep busy in 2012?

Yes. This will be a great opportunity for every fighter to get exposure and it’s a really good thing for both the fighters and the fans. I am happy because having so many different promotions to fight on should help me to fight more and I’m hoping to fight in some of these different promotions, especially DREAM. Yes, I believe that I will be busy this 2012.

I heard you spent your $5,000 ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus from One FC 1 on building a house, how’s that going?

Yah,I’m building a small house here in Baguio City but it will take more fund to finish it, so that will be one of my motivations to give a good show in every fights!

Make sure to stay tuned for more updates.

URCC CEBU 7: Dominate.

URCC CEBU 7: Dominate.
CICC. January 13, 2012.

Featuring a superfight by

EDUARD "THE LANDSLIDE" FOLAYANG.

and two major title defense bouts

Visayan Pinweight Championship:

VICTOR TORRE VS. GERONIMO ETAC

Visayan Bantamweight Championship:

CARRY "THE PRINCE" BULOS VS. REX DE LARA


Other fights to be announced soon.