Palaxi, El Peligro win in Pacific Xtreme

Two of the three mixed martial art fighters from Saipan won their bouts in Pacific Xtreme Combat 17: Fearless held last Saturday at the University of Guam Fieldhouse.

Team Saipan was composed of Giovanni “Palaxi” Sablan, Fassi “Quikdraw” Jesse, and Derrick “El Peligro” Rangamar.

Sablan and Jesse, who are from Trench Tech, defeated their fancied rivals. Rangamar of Marianas Elite, meanwhile, lost to a tougher opponent from Japan.

The prestigious international MMA competition drew fighters from Japan, Saipan, the United States, and Guam.

Shrugging off the hometown advantage by his local opponent, Sablan repulsed Guam’s Robert “The Read Deal” Wusstig, an 18-year-old fighter out of Underworld Xtreme who came into the match with an immaculate 3-0 record.

That record included a huge upset of then URCC lightweight champion Justin “The Shocker” Cruz in PXC 15.

But the more experienced Sablan won against Wusstig via rear-naked choke submission in the second round and the NMI bet improved his record to 15-4.

Sablan’s stable-mate Jesse also dampened the home crowd’s celebration by defeating one of Guam’s top fighters in the 155-lb. division, Eric “Edog” Santos.

Santos is from Underworld Xtreme and won a gold medal in the Marianas Cup Open Grappling Championships last month.

Jesse won by unanimous decision in their three-round match and remained undefeated in four fights.

Trench Tech president and promoter Cuki Alvarez, who accompanied the MMA fighters to Guam, said Rangamar was dominating his match against Yasuhiro Motomuro but later succumbed to the Japanese.

“Unfortunately he (Rangamar) found himself in the receiving end of a Motomuro triangle and was forced to submit three minutes into the bout,” he said.

Alvarez noted that Motomuro is currently the top contender in the 140-lb. class Shooto in Japan.

It was the fifth defeat in eight fights for Rangamar.

“Kudos to our island warriors who represented the CNMI. They were all winners just for being great ambassadors for Saipan.” Alvarez said.

In the main event, Japan’s Hiroshi Masabuchi outsmarted Guam’s Ryan “Biggs” Bigler via ground and pound in the first round.

Another Japanese, Tomonori Taniguchi, knocked out Alex “Most Hated” Castro in the first round.

Justin “The Shocker” Cruz avenged the loss by winning over Japan’s Taiki Tsuchiya in the first round via technical knockout.

Another local bet, Hosea “Killa B” Ware, also prevailed over Japan’s Hiraki Sakuma via arm bar submission in the first round.

In a Guam vs. Guam matchup, Kyle “Boom” Reyes defeated Kyle Aguon by split decision, while John Tuck beat Thomas “El Santo” Calvo via rear-naked chokehold in the first.

J.J. Ambros of the U.S. stamped his class against Japan’s Hideto Kondo by rear-naked choke hold in the first.