‘Pikaboo’ takes featherweight crown

The Trench Tech Purebred featherweight title bout between Trench Tech’s Shane “Pikaboo” Alvarez and Marianas Elite’s Derrick “El’Peligro” Rangamar hands down stole the show in Saturday’s Rites of Passage 11: Onra held at the Royal Taga Ballroom of the Saipan World Resort.

Both fighters went through five grueling five-minute rounds and in the end Alvarez survived with a unanimous win.

Rangamar led out with a kick at the start of the title fight, but Alvarez managed a take down and top position as they clashed soon after. Rangamar could not escape and Alvarez’s ground game caused a small cut above his rival’s right eye. Rangamar escaped briefly but was pulled back down and smothered until the bell.

In the second round, Alvarez quickly assumed a takedown for top position again, but stalled on the top and the referee stood them up. Then Rangamar worked a takedown for top position and managed to take Alvarez’s back, however the latter escaped and caught a triangle submission, but could not get his opponent to tap. Instead, Rangamar slipped out and dealt out some nice blows at the bell.

The first of many moments of confusion took place at the start of the third round when the referee almost called the fight over, as Rangamar seemed to walk away from the fight. Alvarez’s corner prematurely lifted their fighter in victory, but Rangamar was not quitting, as he was just looking for his mouthpiece.

The bout continued and Rangamar found himself in the bottom position again. He wall crawled a couple times, but was dragged back to the ground by Alvarez. At one point Rangamar got to his feet and scored a takedown and mounted Alvarez, but the latter escaped and snuck in another takedown in the final 20 seconds.

After the third round when judges turned in their cards for a decision, one judge did not add his card correctly, causing a discrepancy in the scores. The bout was originally set for only three rounds, but because of these errors, it went to five.

Both fighters came out swinging in the fourth, and Alvarez landed some good strikes before getting caught in a double-leg takedown. Still he wiggled out and almost locked in a Kimura submission. Rangamar fought it off and assumed the top again, issuing some hard strikes in the process, but Alvarez escaped anew and answered with some good blows at the bell.

With both fighters gasping for air, Alvarez dug deep and outwrestled Rangamar in the final round after a quick flurry by both fighters, and in the end the former had the belt secured around his waist.

Meanwhile, the triple main event pairings all ended with swift one-sided victories, and the female exhibition fight was a big hit with the crowd.

USA’s JJ Ambrose of Tiger Muay Thai made light work of South Side Syndicates Rob “Pitbull” Palacios, winning by referee stoppage due to strikes at 1:59 of the first round.

In the scariest moment of Friday’s madness, Guam’s Mike “The Attack” Limiac of the Tsunami Gym swiftly submitted TT’s “Badd” Brad Palacios with a nasty arm bar that bent the latter’s arm backwards.

Then Trench Tech’s Mylo “AlabaMMA”” Lassiter gave Mron San Nicolas a country butt whooping in the heavyweight finale, winning by referee stoppage due to strikes at 3:32 into the first round.

In the female boxing exhibition, Guam’s Gianna “GiaBaby” Sarusal and independent Tara “The Tarantula” Namauleg did a great job warming up the audience early in the night.

In the first main event, Ambrose ran a Jiu-Jitsu clinic on Palacios, manhandling him into a prime for some ground and pound action. Ambrose wasted no time putting an end to the fight. After the fight, Ambrose apologized to the crowd for coming over overweight. He was originally set to take on TT’s Fasi “Quickdraw” Jesse, but the latter opted out due to the weight gap.

The second main event was almost a blur, as it took just 31 seconds for Limiac to catch his prey. Palacios was visibly in pain as the doctor rushed over to alleviate the situation.

Trench Tech’s lone heavyweight brawler, Lassiter, improved his unbeaten streak to three; all of his wins came in the first round.

Lastly, in the female boxing exhibition, both women circled each other for three rounds and judges declared both fighters winners as the match was held in an exhibition setting.

Notably, the bout between Trench Tech’s Ryan “Trobz” Ngirbabul and independent Derrick San Nicolas was cancelled, while Brandon “Commotion” Camacho was awarded a win via forfeit against Danny “Warrior” Santos.