Kelly scores resounding win over Chinese in URCC

MANILA, Philippines - Eric “The Natural” Kelly made his comeback doubly memorable by dispatching Chinese Jianbo Lu to take the Superfight title while Ukrainian Igor Subora retained his heavyweight crown in the URCC Colt 45 held Saturday at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay.

True to his promise, Kelly won by submission over his rival via arm bar with just two minutes into the match in a win that handed his Chinese rival his first defeat in six outings.

“Kailangan tapusin ko agad kasi alam ko tumi-timing din siya,” said Kelly, who lost to Honorio Banario last February.

Subora was more deadly, needing just 27 seconds to beat Marcus Valda – thanks to a whistling left that staggered the two-time SEA Games wrestling champion – in the event presented by Colt 45 and backed by MegaSports World and Tribal Gear.

Also winning big were Reydon “Red” Romero, who beat Ricardo “El Matador” Sapno to take the URCC featherweight title, and Adrian Hillana, who took out DEFTAC standout Ali Khatibi in the first round through submission.

Lito Adiwang and Ric Empil shared the limelight by downing their rivals via submission.

Other winners were Roy Dologuez, who beat Franklin Donglay; Rey Transmonte who edged out Andrew Benibe; Lino Tagacay who won by unanimous decision over Jay Olod and Meshaal Al-Khuzeem who won by TKO over Jaime Vargas.

The event was supported by Anzahl Paint, Chris Sports, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Red Box Karaoke, Tapa King, Padi’s Point, Lifeline Rescue, Impact High Performance Whey Protein, Boost Next level Creatine, Dymatize and P&P Tattoo.