URCC champions Chris Hofmann and Fritz Biagtan successfully defended their crowns to headline the promotion’s 30th card, Saturday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
In the main event of the televised portion of the card, Hofmann (6-1) stopped 43-year-old Canadian Robert Sothmann (4-5) in the very first round to retain his middleweight title after weathering an early storm from his challenger.
From the get-go, Sothmann connected leg kicks in the opening minutes of their title fight and was able to secure a leg lock. However, the 26-year old Filipino-Swiss fighter was able to reverse his position and put the fight back on their feet.
Hofmann started to find his groove, and was able to turn the tides to his favor by picking his spots before rocking Sothmann with a looping overhand right. He then followed it with barrage of punches until the referee stopped the fight at the 4:44 mark, retaining his middleweight title.
In the strawweight title fight, Fritz Biagtan (4-0) showed why he is the URCC’s king of the division, scoring a third round TKO win over Solomon Dultra (4-2).
Making his first title defense since claiming the vacant belt last year, the 22-year old Biagtan dictated the fight from the beginning. The Biagtan MMA fighter was fluid in his combinations that rocked Dultra in the first.
Dultra came out in the second with a sense of urgency, engaging in scrambles and was able to lock the champion in a heel hook. But Biagtan easily reversed the position and landed hard blows from side mount.
Despite the fight stopping temporarily after an inadvertent shot to the groin from Biagtan, the two strawweights put up good exchanges on their feet to the crowd’s delight as the champ started to get the better of his opponent.
By the third round, it turned into a Biagtan striking clinic, as he fired on all cylinders and eventually took a toll on Dultra with a minute remaining to win the fight.
Fellow champions Do Gyeom Lee and Derrick Easterling retained their featherweight and flyweight belts respectively. Both men secured stoppage wins. Lee submitted Jojo Orao in the first round while Fil-Am Easterling stopped Fight Farm winner Jiar Castillo.
In the undercard, Mark Striegl made quick work of former bantamweight champion Andrew Benibe, submitting him with his signature “Fil-Americana” to win in his return to the promotion.
Kiko Matos also made a sensational professional debut, stopping Billy Jack Sanchez in the very first round to open the card. Team Estroso made it two in a row in 3×3 MMA competition, swarming Team Gatmaitan to close out the night.
URCC XXX Results
Saturday, August 12 – SMART Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
URCC Middleweight Championship: Chris Hofmann def. Robert Sothmann (TKO, 1st)
URCC Strawweight Championship: Fritz Biagtan def. Solomon Dultra (TKO, 3rd)
URCC Flyweight Championship: Derrick Easterling def. Jiar Castillo (TKO, 2nd)
URCC Featherweight Championship: Do Gyeom Lee def. Jojo Orao (Sub, 1st)
3X3 MMA: Team Estroso (Sugar Ray Estroso, Patrick Dos Santos, Iyoy Espinosa) def. Team Gatmaitan (Mark Gatmaitan, Brian Paule, Jovit Laxamana) (Gatmaitan retired due to 3-on-1 situation)
Featherweight bout: Mark Striegl def. Andrew Benibe (Sub, 1st)
Welterweight bout: John Adajar def. Jet Hermida (Sub, 2nd)
Middleweight bout: Caloy Baduria def. Mark Palomar (Sub, 2nd)
Flyweight bout: Ernesto Montilla, Jr. def. Nilo Vidal (Sub, 2nd)
Special attraction: Kiko Matos def. Billy Jack Sanchez
