From People’s Champ to PXC Champ

By winning the Pacific Xtreme Combat Championship heavyweight title, Saipan pride Kelvin “The Big Hit” Fitial can now proclaim himself not only the people’s champion but a world champion as well.

Fitial was crowned PXC champion after beating Roque Martinez of Guam via technical knockout in the main event of PXC 24 held last June 11 in Manila, Philippines.

It was the 12th win in 21 matches for the Marianas Elite founder and headliner. He also has six losses, two draws, and a no-contest in his mixed martial arts career.

One of the draws came against Martinez during their controversial fight last year, where Fitial dominated the Guamanian most of the fight but wasn’t able to come out with the clear-cut victory.

He didn’t make that mistake in Manila in PXC 24 though, leaving everything on the mat from the opening bell and not allowing the judges to influence the fight whatsoever.

“I felt comfortable from the start, and my confidence grew even more after the first round. I remember my corner man Lionel (Borja) reminding me to keep my hands up,” he said.

In Round 2, Fitial had some trouble against the defending champion. At one point he even conceded that Martinez had him right where he wanted him.

“I thought to myself this is his chance—if he doesn’t take it now then I know I’m going to win. I heard Lionel yelling at me to get up and use my kicks and jabs, but Roque is a big guy. He was on top of me and wasn’t going to let me up, so I had to hang tough until the bell.”

And survive he did. As it turned out, Fitial playing possum in the second round allowed him to save energy for the all-important third round where the Saipan fighter sprang back to life and took the fight to the now exhausted Martinez.

“I actually saved some energy in the second round and stuck to my stand-up game in the third. Our strategy really worked in the third round and you could see Roque was getting tired. Lionel knew it too and he told me to finish him off in the fourth. Roque swung for the fences at the start of the round, but I remained patient because I sensed weakness and could tell he was going to make a mistake.”

Fitial didn’t have to wait long for his chance to finish off Martinez as he pounced on him after the latter slipped.

“I took him down after he slipped and went for a choke hold at first, but man [Roque’s] neck is huge and I thought there is no way I can choke this guy, so I pounded him from the top position until the referee pulled me off. After the referee called it I laid down on the mat and felt so good because—at that moment—I realized all of my hard work just paid off,” he said.

Fitial said winning the PXC heavyweight belt has always been his goal and now he does not really know what to do next. He also said he kept the PXC belt in its bag and did not even wear it until his feet touched ground on Saipan.

He expressed interest in traveling to China, Japan or Korea to compete for some heavyweight titles in the region, but is currently focusing his training on his PXC title defense, where there are rumors that some Hawaiian contenders are interested in challenging him.

Fitial indeed has come a long way on the road to becoming an MMA champion. Not too long ago back in May of 2009, Fitial held an average record of 7-6 with one draw, however since then he has won five of his last six bouts.

“I learned a lot from my mistakes starting out. In my very first fight I didn’t even know kicking was allowed. I didn’t really know how to throw a kick, or even worse, how to defend one. I didn’t even know much about wrestling either, but I know I’d rather have the top position,” he smiled.

Fitial credits Saipan’s Cuki Alvarez of Trench Tech Purebred Gym and the Carson Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Guam for helping him refine his grappling skills and wresting defense tactics.

He also wants to study Muay Thai Kickboxing in the future. He admits that stand-up is his natural talent, but aims to evolve into a more well-rounded fighter.

“I have worked with Cuki for years and he has taught me a lot about the business both inside and outside the cage. It meant a lot to me when he made that People’s Champ Belt for me after the first bout with Martinez because it helped assure myself that Saipan believes in me.”

Fitial was also called to center stage during Trench Warz 14: Ground Zero last June 17 at the Saipan World Resort, where Alvarez formally congratulated him for his achievement.

The reigning PXC champion also has aspirations of expanding his Marianas Elite fight team and hopes to have initial developments of a training gym commencing by the end of the year.