by Nick Giongco
A bunch of topnotch mixed martial artists will make up the Philippine team that will vie for eight gold medals the in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games the country is hosting from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, the Samahang Kickboxing ng Pilipinas (SKP) said yesterday.
Leading the SEAG aspirants is veteran MMA campaigner Robin Catalan, who has fought extensively overseas using the ONE FC platform.
The SKP said that regional tournaments will begin by late-January until February with the top performers slugging it out for slots to the national finals. Two eight-man groups will then be sent to train and compete abroad in the runup to the SEAG towards the end of 2019.
The nerve center of kickboxing in the Luzon area is Baguio although Metro Manila is not far behind owing to the abundance of MMA clubs.
Cebu and Dumaguete are the leaders in the Visayas while Cagayan de Oro and Davao make up the best of practitioners in Mindanao.
