Rivera pounces Torbiso in MMA tourney

CEBU, Philippines - Joerick “The Viper” Rivera of SOMA Fighting Club kept his unbeaten record intact with a second round stoppage of Jonjier “The Dangerous” Torbiso of Durex Dragons in the main event of the “Fight Ground Championships” the other night at the San Roque Sports Complex.

Rivera launched a barrage of leg kicks before outmuscling Torbiso on the ground, finishing him with a guillotine choke in the final minute in the second round.

Rivera,thus,padded his clean record in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to 4-0,   while Torbiso suffered histhird loss in six fights.

In the supporting main event, Rivera’s teammate James “Spider” Serenio destroyed Mindanao’s Malawi Fighting System founder Ali “The Grappler” Malawi in the first round.

Serenio dropped Malawi with a right overhand before pummeling him with a series of punches to the ground. Bloodied and battered, the Mindanao fighter was forced to tap out to halt the carnage.

In the other featured bouts, Romelo “Arcom” Espra stopped Mark “The Terminator” Araneta in the second round, while Yaw-Yan Musang's Leo Gaerlan forced Junrey Soquite into submission at two minutes of the opening session.

Two Yaw-Yan ArDigma stalwarts Mark ‘Buhawi’ Revalde and Renan ‘Limbas’ Noblefranca also came out victorous.

Revalde, a former Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) warrrior, used a decisive rare naked choke to outlast John Edu “Prodigal Dragon’ Torbiso, while Noblefranca came up with a second round TKO win over Jimwill Nainge.

Meanwhile, Back Fist Promotions president Joseph Lanuza, who assembled the slambang show, said they are planning to stage another MMA and kickboxing tournaments this January in line with the Sinulog festival. - THE FREEMAN