URCC: Folayang keeps title; Manguray cops feather plum

MANILA, Philippines - Multi-titled SEA Games warrior Eduard Folayang needed just a little over three minutes to prove that he’s one of Asia’s deadliest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) practitioners these days.

Combining wushu and the fearsome Brazilian jiu jitsu technique, Folayang scored a technical knockout (TKO) win over Korean Dooje Chung to retain his welterweight crown in the Colt 45-Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) XVI “Reckoning” Saturday at the A. Venue Events Hall in Makati City.

The Korean started aggressively, catching Folayang flat-footed when he threw a vicious up-kick to his face, a move that surprised the crowd, which filled the arena in the event presented by Colt 45.

After the many-time member of the RP wushu team recovered his bearing, he retaliated with a huge straight to the jaw that saw the rising Korean star drop to his knees. In a flash, Folayang grounded and pounded the Korean until the referee stopped the contest in three minutes and 15 seconds in the first of the two-round (10 minutes per round) tussle.

The win enabled Folayang to extend his URCC streak to six – four of them by TKO.

Sharing the limelight with Folayang in the event also backed by Tribal Gear and My PLDT Watchpad with Solar Sports, Solar TV, NU107 and 99.5RT as media partners was Davao dentist Angelito”The Saint” Manguray.

The 42-year-old karate expert pummeled Badong Domasian to hack out a TKO win in the first round (6:19) and capture the vacant featherweight title in the tournament sanctioned by the Games and Amusement Board and also supported by VRP Medical Center, SEAIR, Chris Sports, Yoshinoya and Padi’s Point.

The only match in the 10-bout event that went the distance was the flyweight clash between Richard Lasprilla and Angelo Estanol with the former carving out a unanimous decision. In the heavyweight division, Manila-based Ukrainian Igor Subora scored a similar TKO win over Australia Nicholas Mann in the first round (2:34).