Fitial beats Aussie foe in PXC 56

The CNMI’s Kelvin Fitial, right, lands a right cross on Australia’s Benjamin Sosoli during their heavyweight bout in PXC 56 held last Saturday at the University of Guam Calvo Field House. (Pacific Xtreme Combat Photo)

A more prepared Kelvin “The Big Hit” Fitial earned a unanimous decision win over Australia’s Benjamin Sosoli during their heavyweight bout in PXC 56 last Saturday at the University of Guam Calvo Field House.

Fitial used his new found quickness and reach advantage on Sosoli to connect solid kicks and knees that prevented the Aussie from aggressively attacking the former in their three-round fight.

“I gave him some kicks in the first round and then in the second, I let go of some knees that made him think twice if he’s going to move closer. We then had exchanges in the third and I remained aggressive as I knew he was gassing out, while I still have the stamina to attack him,” said Fitial, whose victory in PXC 56 came after he lost his MMA return following a five-year absence.

The Marianas Elite standout bowed to Guam’s Roque Martinez via unanimous decision during the PXC 54 held last July 8, 2016. Before that bout, Fitial also dueled Martinez in PXC 24 (June 11, 2011) and won via TKO (punches).

“I had only two to three months to prepare when I challenged Roque last year. This time, I trained longer thus the results were different. I could have lasted a few more rounds after I fought Benjamin,” the 32-year-old fight said.

Fitial also believed being 10lbs lighter than his Australian foe gave him quickness and allowed him to elude majority of Sosoli’s punches. The CNMI MMA bet tipped the scale at 239lbs during last Friday’s weigh-in, down to nearly 30 pounds from his previous weight when he collided against Martinez. He credited his wife Yuline for taking care of his diet and buddy Jerry Diaz of Gold’s Gym for developing an effective workout for him.

“My opponent threw a lot of heavy punches, but I was quick enough to evade them. I also tried to keep the fight standing up because that’s my game plan. It will be harder if we ended up fighting on the ground,” said Fitial, who improved his win-draw-loss record to 13-2-8.

Sosoli absorbed only his second loss in five MMA pro fights.

With his victory last weekend, Fitial hopes to have another shot at Martinez. The rivals met three times in PXC with their first encounter (PXC 22 ) on Jan. 21, 2011 ending in a draw.

“I hope to close that chapter with him because I am planning to lose more weight and fight either in the light heavyweight or middleweight,” Fitial said.

Meanwhile, Fitial would like to thank the following for making his victory in PXC 56 possible: Pete and Mark Sablan, GSM, Saipan Apparel, GIG, GMT, Imperial Pacific, High Blood Pressure Guam, Trench Tech, Choke Chain, Muay Thai Guam, Hoopaholics, Trench Tech’s Cukie Alvarez, and Shamrock Restaurant.