7 ease way to ‘Road to Glory’

Introductions of seven fighters took longer than the time they finished off their respective opponents in last Friday’s Rites of Passage 17: Road to Glory at the Royal Taga Hall of the Saipan World Resort.

Trench Tech/Zalaka’s Jordan “The Machine” Manglona recorded the second fastest victory in ROP 17, beating UMA Guam’s Ethan “Typhoon” Reyes in 55 seconds of the first round of their 135-lb bout. Manglona won via rear-naked choke, as he utilized his long arms and legs to hold down the much shorter Reyes. The two lanky fighters seemed headed for a stand-up fight as they exchanged kicks and punches right at the opening bell. However after a few wayward kicks, Manglona got a grip on Reyes and pinned him down to gain control and throw some punches to the body of the Guam fighter. Reyes then tried to get out of the jam, crawling out of the corner, but Manglona followed him and this time went behind him to employ the lock and the former was forced to tap out five minutes before the first round ended.

Two more fighters earned wins under the one-minute mark, while four others recorded victories in less than two minutes.

High Blood Pressure Guam’s Dustin Smith uses a rear-naked choke on Pwang’s Garry “Dissa” Ray during the first round of their bout in Rites of Passage 17: Road to Glory held last Friday at the Royal Taga Hall of the Saipan World Resort. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Guam’s Leo “The Lion King” Mendiola got a lucky break and was awarded victory at the 38-second mark of the first round when his opponent Jay “BonBon Camacho of MCAMMA was disqualified due to an illegal kick. Camacho was the aggressor in the first MMA bout of the night as he connected on a solid right and held Mendiola down to the corner. Camacho then unleashed more punches and got out of control, as he kicked Mendiola.

Another Guam fighter, Dustin Smith of High Blood Pressure also brought his foe, Garry “Dissa” Ray of Pwang down the canvas and used a rear-naked choke to force the latter to tap out 56 seconds into the first round.

Trench Tech’s Vince “The Clinch” Masga also worked on a rear-naked choke versus independent fighter Daniel “Flowmotion” Floor to end their 135-lb bout at the 1:09 mark of the opening round. Masga just waited for the right timing, allowing Floor to let go off wild punches and when the latter moved in closer, the former got a hold of the challenger and slammed him to the ground. Masga kept his hold for the early win.

Duplicating Masga’s first round triumph was Guam’s Eric “Gatty” Gatman, who secured the top position against Rota’s Keith “K Oz” Ogo and unloaded a flurry of punches to notch a TKO win via referee stoppage at the 1:44 mark of Round 1.

Mike Mendiola of HBP also registered a TKO victory against independent fighter John Tudela at the 1:47 mark of the first round. The referee stopped the 170-lb bout as Mendiola mounted Tudela and threw multiple strikes.

Meanwhile, Shake “Pikaboo” Alvarez posted the lone first round win in three kickboxing bouts last week. Alvarez went for a spinning back kick that hit Red Ants Academy’s Jones on the face. Jones was visibly shaken after Alvarez’s attack and could not steer his way back to his fighting form, as referee Keith Nabors called off the bout at the 1:26 mark of Round 1.
The two other K1 matches went to the judges’ scorecards with UMA Guam’s Jayvin “The Prodigy” Santos and Jorell “Elusive Meno” pulling off wins via split decisions over Red Ants Academy’s Matthew “The Mighty Mouse” Sablan and Team Strikeforce’s Jamaal “The Striker” Mresbang, respectively.

In other MMA results, Zalaka’s Allan “The Silver Bullet” Aguon won via verbal tapout against WFO’s Frankie Ramangmao 19 seconds into the second round, while Team Shocker’s Ray “Faluwasch” Teregeyo defeated Down 2 Scrap’s Jon “Outlaw” Camacho at the 59-second mark of Round 1 via referee stoppage.

Ramangmao and Aguon were pretty even after Round 1. However, right after the two fighters touched gloves signaling the start of the first round Aguon caught Ramangmao by surprise, unleashing a solid punch to the latter’s chest. Ramangmao wobbled, as he stepped back to catch his breath and made a signal to the referee.

In the Teregeyo-Camacho bout, the former had the slight edge in the first round before the former assumed the top position and pounded his hapless foes with punches to the head.

Joining Teregeyo in the winners circle in last Friday’s ROP 17 were Trench Tech’s Lucas “Irish Zombie” Nutting, HBP Guam’s Frank Quidacay, Guam Muay Thai’s Rocky “The Rock Star” Quichocho, and Team Intense’s Renz “The Intense” Benghit. Nutting scored a third round-win (2:19) against Team Shocker’s Tan “Titan” Taisacan via standing Guillotine choke, while Quichocho bagged a unanimous win in his heavyweight bout over Trench Tech’s Myron “The Natural’ San Nicolas. Quidacay and Benghit got free wins after a no-show from their respective foes.