Masga beats Rangamar, keeps perfect record

Trench Tech Purebred featherweight Vince “The Clinch” Masga remained undefeated in three fights after scoring a unanimous victory over Marianas Elite veteran Derrick “El-Peligro” Rangamar during their bout in the Rites of Passage 12: Unstoppable World at the Royal Taga Ballroom of the Saipan World Resort last Friday.

Masga dominated Rangamar (5-9) in the opening round with some nice takedowns and although the latter was tough to pin down, the early attack lifted the former to the win.

After falling behind in the first round, Rangamar led out with some superman punches in the second before being taken for another ride. He quickly escaped and got to his feet, but was soon tangled in Masga’s signature move. Rangamar dealt some elbows to Masga’s back as the pair fought for position from the clinch, but the latter equalized the points with another quick slam.

Rangamar popped right back up again, however, and they knotted back up in the clinch. This time Rangamar pulled Masga to the ground, but ended up on the bottom and was saved by the bell.

Then in the third round, Rangamar expended a lot of energy for an early slam and Masga reversed soon after hitting the mat. Masga tried to lock in an arm-bar submission from the top position, but had his hands full trying to keep a handle on Rangamar to the final bell. Masga was the more technical fighter and managed the dominant position for the majority of the squabble.

Meanwhile, Masga’s teammates Ronald Hermosilla and Seong Ho Chung also posted victories in their respective MMA pairings.

Hermosilla’s debut ended quickly with a tap out victory over Zogai’s Brandon “Commotion” Camacho (0-2) just 1:33 into round one.

As both fighters took a while to find their range, Camacho landed a nice kick to the ribs. Moments later, Hermosilla dropped Camacho with a swift head kick and pounced on top of the latter until the tap.

Chung was also victorious in his debut and earned a split decision over independent Ray “Faluwasch” Teregeyo (0-1) in their 145-lb bout.

Chung took the match to the ground right off the bat and scored a couple takedowns in round one. Teregeyo got wiser to his tactic in the second round and employed a good use of the sprawl. He also opened up a little mouse under Chung’s left eye in the second round. Then both fighters brought it in the final round, but Chung was declared the victor as he was the more aggressive fighter.

In other results, Countershot’s Josh “The Hedgehog” Alvarez (9-5) made it past Predator Combat’s “Tabi” Jay Muna (4-14) with an arm-bar, 2:45 into the first round of their 125lb-bout. Muna started out with a nice slam and managed top position, but Alvarez kept his cool and waited for the chance to nail the submission.

In K-1 Kickboxing action, Countershot’s Jared “Smiley Face” Santos (1-1), TT’s Tavita “Chamoan Sensation” Lueta (2-0), and Guam Muay Thai’s Justin “JD” Dizon (1-1) all came away winners over the weekend.

Santos had a hard earned split decision victory over Zalaka’s Jordan Manglona (0-2) in their 120-lb pairing. Santos took a low blow in the first round and needed all the time allotted by referee Keith Nabors to recover, but was able to competitively finish the round. Santos then landed a series of knees and scored a knockdown in the second round and showed superior technical skills in the deciding three minutes. After the fight, Santos said he hopes to fight Jordan “Jungle Boy” Ogo sometime in the future.

Tavita was also issued a split decision victory over Guam Muay Thai’s Jeremy “Pac-Man” Javellana (0-1) in their 140-lb match. Tavita came out swinging and won the first round with share aggression, but Javellana battled back in the second turn to make life difficult for the judges, heading into the last round. Tavita maintained a slightly higher pace throughout the fight and showed the judges that he wanted it a little more in the payoff period.

Dizon grinded out a split decision over Danny Agulto (0-1) in their 140-lb bout. Agulto did not care to show any respect for Dizon as the latter performed the traditional Waikru Muay Thai dance upon entering the cage, but the latter was not demoralized and simply outperformed the former during the real show.

Dizon landed some nice kicks to Agulto’s knees and scored a sweep to take round one. Agulto was already showing signs of fatigue in the second round so Dizon chipped away at him and the former refused to step forward in the last round, essentially handing the fight over to the latter. Agulto threw a few wild haymakers, but did not connect and at one point fell to the canvas just to catch his breath.

Lastly, in the first of two boxing exhibitions that kicked off the night, DAT Gym’s Pete “Hands Down” Castro (1-0) defeated Countershot’s Julius Yangetmai (0-1) via TKO 42 seconds into the second round of their 160lb-bout.

Both fighters put on an exciting curtain raiser, but a big body blow earned Castro the victory.

In the second exhibition bout, Trench Tech’s Juan Lansangan (2-0) was awarded a split decision over Zalaka’s Jake “Can’t Stop” Ilo. However the crowd expressed its displeasure on the result of the 145-lb fight.