Baluyot stops Catalan in URCC 87

MANILA, Philippines – Two-time jiu-jitsu world champion Eros Baluyot submitted veteran Rene Catalan in the main event of Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) 87: Heroes at the Xylo at the Palace in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig on Tuesday night.

It took only over a minute for Baluyot – 14 years younger than the 44-year-old Catalan – to showcase his patented ground game and finish off his rival in the first round for the biggest win so far in his young mixed martial arts career.

As soon as Baluyot took Catalan down, the former quickly strived to find an opening for a rear naked choke (RNC), which he successfully did, forcing the latter to tap out in the bout backed by main supporter www.crazywin.ph.  

“I just did everything precisely and safely during the fight,” said the undefeated Baluyot, who improved to 3-0 as an MMA fighter. He approached Catalan before and after the fight as a sign of respect for the veteran coach and former wushu sanda Asian Games gold medalist. 

Catalan, for his part, fell to 6-6. 

In another MMA contest in the card that’s also supported by Lucas Lepri BJJ Gym, Rex De Lara wowed the crowd by pulling off a huge comeback win against Mhar John Manahan during their 145-lb contest. 

De Lara survived Manahan’s ground-and-pound game and eventually made him pay for failing to finish him off in the second round. He slowed things down at the start of the final round, and it paid off as he caught Manahan and powerfully slammed him to the canvas.

The referee stopped the contest after Manahan was seemingly knocked out cold, giving De Lara a rare takedown knockout win that moved him up to 12-8-1 and pulled Manahan down to 2-4.

“All fights were quality bouts. We are very happy to see how the Xylo crowd reacted each fight. So for our next card, we guaranteed everyone to put exciting and more innovative fights,” said URCC co-owner and general manager Aleksandr Sofronov. 

Meanwhile, in two grappling fights, Godwin Langbayan submitted Red Samson also by RNC, while Paige Alitao outpointed Troy Legaspi.

In the other pro MMA bouts, Rufino Mante knocked out Mark Cuizon, while Kerwin Tan scored a technical knockout after Marco Lampacan could not continue due to an injury he suffered during their match.

The lone amateur MMA bout saw Paolo Cruz besting Jerald Vellarde via unanimous decision.

Meanwhile, the bareknuckle boxing showdown between Christian Panliag and Chris Cantor ended with the former winning by split decision despite surviving a first-round knockdown.

In the special slap battle matches that served as the card’s opener, Reynaldo Beltran prevailed over Milarde “Pongde” Hugo by split decision, while Gerald “Makahighlord” Gabonada won over Michael “Batang CamSur” Azucena by unanimous decision.

At the end of the card, URCC president Alvin Aguilar announced that CJ De Tomas will take on Burn Soriano in a lightweight battle to headline URCC 88 on September 5.