A rivalry is in the offing as the best MMA fighters from the Philippines battle their counterpart from South Korea in a 3 versus 3 format while Arvin Chan and Will Chope clash for supremacy in Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) 81 Tuesday night at the Cove in Okada Manila Parañaque City.
Sugar Ray “Mammoth” Estroso along with former URCC champion Caloy “The Bad Boy” Baduria and Boss Bullet Manlilic will do whatever it takes to keep the Philippines’ three-game winning run going in the event billed as Decades of Success.
URCC founding President Alvin Aguilar believes the 3 versus 3 event would be challenging for team Philippines since they will be facing deadly South Korean fighters.
“This will be a very challenging fight for the Philippines. I am also curious to see how Caloy Baduria will do in a 3 versus 3 format as this will be his first time,” Aguilar said, who joined by URCC Global Chairman Arnold Vegafria during the fight’s news conference at the Cove in Okada Manila on Monday.
The South Koreans, composed of Jeong Minhun, Choi Wontae and Jeon Youngjun, look ready to rumble.
“We travel very far so we will do whatever it takes to win and bring home the bacon,” said Minhum
Estroso and the rest of the gang welcome the challenge from their South Korean counterparts, saying they are not bothered by the height disparity of their 6-footer, 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-7 foes.
“Anything can happen inside the cage,” the 5-foot-6 Estroso said. “Once we hit them with punches, they will experience how tough Filipinos are. We never backdown to any challenges or fights.”
Chan expects a difficult fight against Chope in their duel for the interim URCC welterweight bout in the other main event presented by Okada Manila and supported by Winzir.
But just like the Koreans, the 32-year-old Chope (38-18) promised not to go home empty-handed.
“I want to take the belt to my wife so you need a lot of luck my friend,” he said. “But I have to be careful because Arvin Chan has improved a lot.”
Both Chan and Chope made it to the welterweight limit at 169.6 pounds after the weigh in. The event is presented by Okada and supported by Winzir.
In MMA undercard bouts, Dunlee Stewart will face John Tirona in 170 lbs bout followed by Gester Maglaque to meet Mariano Jones of Costa Rica in 185 lbs bout, Kimbert Alintozon will battle Junie Kimayong in 125 lbs affair, Rhyle Lugo will clash against Alex Aballe in 145 lbs, and Eros Baluyot will see action against MJ Abrillo in the 125 lbs bout.
In the bare-knuckle division, Damsa Abrenica meets Joseph “King Pinoy” Cabral while Dondon Serrano squares off with Sherwin Niro and Denzel Dimaguila fights Mark Jalaron.
