Manglona: I’m always ready

Jordan “The Machine” Manglona, left, answers questions from ring announcer L.J. Castro during last Friday’s Rites of Passage 22: Rampage held at the Marianas Business Plaza in Susupe. (Jon Perez)

Like most mixed martial arts warriors, Jordan “The Machine” Manglona doesn’t stop training even though he’s not preparing for an upcoming fight. It’s his way of staying in shape and in fighting form so that when he gets the call, he’s ready for war.

Manglona, despite his absence from the eight sides for more than a year, showed his readiness in last week’s Rites of Passage 22: Rampage when he faced McKlane “The Game” Alfred of Vida MMA Guam in one of the three title fights held at the Marianas Business Plaza in Susupe. Though coming from a layoff, he successfully defended his Trench Warz flyweight belt when he defeated Alfred by referee stoppage with only 23 seconds left in the first round of the opener of the triple title matches.

“I did not have any MMA fights for quite some time and just had a couple of boxing and kickboxing matches in Guam. I fought a Japanese and another one from Guam,” Manglona told Saipan Tribune moments after improving his record to 5-1.

It was Manglona’s fourth straight win since losing his MMA debut via armbar submission against Josh “Chaos” Duenas in the 1:47 mark of the first round in Trench Warz 17: Night of Champions last Dec. 13, 2013. The weekend bout was his first MMA fight since beating Guam Muay Thai/Underworld Extreme’s Scott “Da Slaya” Eclavea by split decision in Pacific Xtreme Combat 22 in Guam last March 18, 2016. It was also his first time to defend the 125-lb. belt.

Alfred, meanwhile, suffered his fourth loss in seven matches and third straight since beating Mark “The Dark” Nuique of the CNMI by rear-naked choke submission in Pacific Xtreme Combat 44 on June 27, 2014.

Manglona is a boxer at heart that’s why he could go toe-to-toe in stand-up fighting and can trade punches with any opponent.

“I am a boxer first before getting into MMA. I learned boxing when I was a 14-year-old in Guam. Then I shifted to kickboxing. I got into MMA when I met Cuki [Alvarez] and the guys at Trench Tech Gym. I got hooked after that,” said Manglona.

“I always have the same game plan of using my boxing skills, but I improved on my ground fighting and that helped me a lot in most of my fights.”

In his match against Alfred last Friday, his opponent came out aggressive and initially dictated the tempo. The Guam fighter, who was eight inches shorter than Manglona, quickly buckled down to work and attempted to force a submission win. But Manglona maneuvered his way out of the choke hold and when Alfred let his guard down and the former saw an opening, the Trench Tech standout pounded away and won by RSC.

“I know that he’s a ground fighter, he has a purple belt in jiu-jitsu. So I waited for any opening and when I saw the chance, I pounced on it,” he added.

What’s next for Manglona? “Well, I would just wait for any fight Cuki or my team would give me. But, I’m always ready for anything,” he said.