It’s a new year and a new era for the Pacific Xtreme Combat as two new champions were crowned.
In the first of two title bouts, Kwan Ho Kwak made true to his promise in dethroning longtime PXC bantamweight kingping Kyle Aguon to stay undefeated.
The main event then saw two warriors gut it out as Jinel Lausa displaying great preparation and stamina in outpointing Team Lakay’s Crisanto Pitpitunge to win the vacant PXC Flyweight crown in a classic.
PXC Bantamweight Championship: Kwan Ho Kwak vs. Kyle Aguon
“A lot of my opponents underestimated me, but I ended up winning in the end”
Those were the words of challenger Kwan Ho Kwak during the press conference for PXC 51. The Korean Top Team product displayed great poise for a young fighter as he outclassed the amazing heart of defending champion Kyle Aguon in 25 minutes of action to win the PXC Bantamweight crown.
Kwan Ho Kwak immediately threw high variance of kicks of punches to confuse the Guam-based champion in the opening round. A superman punch and a spinning flying kick by the challenger showed the audience and the champion that he is no fluke and deserved to be in the championship bout as Aguon could not contain Kwan for at least a takedown in the first two rounds of the bout. However, Aguon was persistent in the closing seconds of the second round in landing the first double-leg takedown of the bout in the waning seconds of the second round.
In the third canto, after a failed shoot by Aguon, he was able to carry Kwan on his shoulders for a takedown at the 1:15 mark of the round. Kwan was able to escape as Aguon tried to transition. As the two stood up, the Spike 22 product received stiff jabs from the challenger that stunned the champion. The challenger was then able to trip Aguon for a takedown while hammerfists and short elbows resulted to a cut under the left eye of the champion to end the round.
Aguon opened the championship rounds with a stuffed takedown attempt. Knowing that the challenger had prepared well for his wrestling, Aguon landed jabs of his own that connected. With 1:11 left in the fourth round, another failed takedown attempt by Aguon resulted to strong hard-hitting elbows by Kwan that resulted to another cut, this time at the corner of the left eye of Aguon.
Knowing that his jabs were on-point, Aguon opened the final round with stinging jabs but the Korean just shrugged it off. A hard right by Kwan knocked down Aguon and was showered by ground punches. As the two fighters stood up, the Korean again unleashed a flurry of punches that again knocked the champion down. For some reason, as Kwan attempted a triangle on Aguon, he argued with the referee resulting to a momentary opening for Aguon to try and lock an armbar. However, time was not on the champion’s side as time expired.
The judges decision was 49-46 across the board to end Aguon’s reign on top.
“What’s up Philippines!,” the new champion declared after the fight. Looking at the crown, Kwan Ho Kwak, now 8-0, promised the audience that he will take on all challengers and will defend the championship at all costs.
PXC Flyweight Championship: Crisanto Pitpitunge vs. Jinel Lausa
In a historic main event that saw two Filipino warriors fight for the vacant PXC Flyweight crown, it was Jinel Lausa who was able to outpoint his “idol” Crisanto Pitpitunge to win his first world championship in his young MMA career.
The two Filipino warriors struggled for control to open the contest. As the Iloilo native threw wild uppercuts and a standing guillotine attempt, Pitpitunge was able to take his opponent down and went for a kimura attempt. As the two fighters stood up, Pitpitunge was able to clip Lausa with a right and took Lausa down for the second time to close the opening round.
In the second round, Lausa again attempted a standing guillotine but it was just a ploy to land a huge head and body combination. After a stuffed takedown attempt, “The Slugger” was able to convert on another takedown and immediately trapped the arm of Lausa for a submission attempt. However, Lausa went for a sweep and landed huge elbows to the body of the Baguio-native to close-out the round.
An over the shoulder takedown marked the third round for Pitpitunge as the Fighting Cop was able to spend the majority of the round on top. Meanwhile, in the first championship round, Lausa was the one who was able to shower Pitpitunge with elbows to the chest, body, and head of Pitpitunge. Hammerfists by Lausa closed out the fourth round.
Lausa was able to trip Crisanto in the opening moments of the final round but was reversed into an omoplata attempt by the Team Lakay fighter. Later it was discovered that the omoplata resulted to a right arm injury to Lausa. With his back against the wall, Pitpitunge tried to go for at least a submission attempt to close out the match.
Two judges deemed the match in favor of Lausa 48-47 while the third judge gave the bout for Pitpitunge to give Lausa the PXC Flyweight championship. “Thank you sa inyong lahat,” exclaimed the new champion after the fight. “Mabigat talaga na kalaban si Crisanto at pinaghandaan ko talaga ito ng maigi, mas lalo na ang wrestling niya. Maraming maraming salamat sa lahat ng fans ko!”
With the win, the new PXC Champion Jinel Lausa goes up to 6-2 while Pitpitunge will look to bounce back and is now 8-4 in his career.
