Second of a three-part series
Saipan mixed martial arts fighters proved that they are at par with their counterparts from Guam after forging a 5-5 tie in last Friday's Trench Warz X: Collision at the jam-packed Royal Taga Hall of the Saipan World Resort.
Homegrown MMA talents, however, waged an uphill battle and needed wins by Marianas Elite stablemates Myron “The Natural” San Nicolas and Kelvin “The Big Hit” Fitial in the last two bouts to draw level in their head-to-head match-up against their brothers from Guam.
Saipan actually drew first blood when Marianas Elite's Maitai “The Charger” Charley upset Pacific Games Taekwondo gold medalist Sonny Chargualaf via verbal submission at the start of the first round of their K-1 rules kickboxing match.
The first minute of action was intense but then Charley accidentally kicked Chargualaf in the groin area that necessitated a five-minute recovery period.
After the lull Chargualaf was not the same fighter as the high leg kicks and round-house kicks were no longer as potent.
The Team Countershot fighter then had trouble answering the bell for the second round and the win was awarded to Charley.
Guam, however, quickly knotted the count at 1-1 as Jun “Shockeraba” San Nicolas of Spike 22 Ground-Fu MMA beat Martin Ayuyu of Marianas Elite in the their 130-lb. division fight.
The match was a ground-and-pound galore from the onset with San Nicolas eventually mounting Ayuyu and peppering him with unanswered punches that forced referee Tony D'Angelo to stop the fight at the 3:39 mark of the first round.
Tony “Rush” Reyes, also of Spike 22, gave his island mates a 2-1 lead when he won via rear-naked choke against ZOGAI/Tanapag Beach Bad Boiz's Ryan Gardee at 1:56 of the first round of their 140-lb. bout.
The Saipan vs. Guam appeared headed for a mismatch when the U.S. territory recorded its third straight win when Jon “The Heat” Delos Reyes handed Chris “No Luv” Laayug his second defeat in seven fights.
Delos Reyes was the aggressor early and it got the better of him as his inadvertent knee to the face of Laayug-as the Saipan fighter was about to stand up-forced another five-minute lull.
The Guamanian put the pressure on in the second round and eventually defeated Laayug via technical knockout at the 1:17 mark of the round.
Fasi “Quickdraw” Fasi fortunately gave Saipan a lot to cheer about when he stopped Warren “The Killa” Quinata at 4:26 of the opening round of their 155-lb. contest to make it 3-2.
The biggest shocker of the evening, however, belonged to Team Predator Combat's Nate “The Terrible” Flores after the lanky Saipan fighter upset Team Subdue's Ray “Infamous” Apiag via arm-bar submission after 3:22 of the first round. The win made it 3-3.
Guam's 37-year-old warrior Gil “The Guamaniac” Meno then made it 4-3 when he forced ZOGAI's top dog Shane “Insane” Camacho to tap out at the 2:46 mark of the second round of their middleweight match.
Camacho gave it all he got in the first minute of the opening round that saw him body-slam Meno to the canvas. He, however couldn't sustain the effort in their grudge match and fought on fumes the rest of the way.
Giving up more than 30 lbs., Slade “The Rage” Adelbai then fought valiantly before losing to Psycho Gym's Toby “Big Tobz” Mesa in their match-up.
Adelbai simply had no answer against Mesa's bulk that forced him to fight on his back majority of the bout.
When most of the crowd thought the fight would be decided by points, Mesa unloaded an overhand right that didn't appear to connect. It however forced Adelbai to retreat and in his haste, he appeared to trip over his own feet.
D'Angelo ruled it a knockout at 4:35 of the fourth and final round and Saipan was on a 5-3 hole.
Luckily for CNMI fight fans, Fitial and San Nicolas came to the rescue with the former reasserting his dominance over Manny “The Enforcer” Chong in the main event and the latter bloodying Eric “The Terror” Tedtaotao so badly that ring doctor Bill Weiss had to call an end to their semi main event bout.
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