Fitial-Martinez rematch in PXC 23

Saipan’s Kelvin “The Big Hit” Fitial will take on Spike 22’s Roque Martinez in the main event of Pacific Xtreme Combat 24 set for this Saturday, June 11, at the Resorts World Manila’s Newport Performing Arts Theater in Pasay City, Philippines.

Fitial left on a flight for Guam yesterday to join a convoy of Guam fighters who will also be featured in a nine-bout fight card. It will be the first time PXC will be held in the Southeast Asian country.

The Marianas Elite fighter won four matches in a row before the controversial draw against Martinez in their first meeting in PXC 22: Battle For The Belt in late January of this year.

Fitial comes into the rematch with an 11-6-2 win-loss-draw card with one no-contest, while Martinez (5-3-1) dropped two fights before the no-decision against the Saipan fighter.

“I’ve been waiting for a long time for this and am ready for the challenge. Of course I want to thank Ed (Arriola) and Lionel (Borja) for being by my side and I want to also thank my sponsor Paul Blas and Rush Gear as well as my family, friends, and everyone on Saipan for their support. I want everyone to know that I am going over there to finish what I started,” said Fitial in a telephone interview yesterday.

“Kelvin has been training hard, working on his cardio for the past four months. He has been practicing on the mat and hitting the bags with corner man Lionel Borja three times a week,” said Fitial’s manager Ed Arriola in a phone interview yesterday.

According to Arriola, Fitial has also been routinely undergoing aqua-training sessions as well as running up to five miles a day, while playing basketball in two leagues.

Arriola and Borja will be joining the locally acclaimed “People’s Champ” on his trip to the Philippines.

As for Martinez, he said his training is going great and feels well prepared for the fight.

“This time I just want to go into this and have fun and fight smart. I think I fought with too much emotion last time. I’ve really picked up my strength training for this fight and I feel a lot more explosive,” stated Martinez yesterday in an Internet chat session.

Both fighters also wished each other good luck.

This will be Martinez’s first fight in the Philippines, however he has fought off-island twice in Japan and five times in the U.S.

Fitial fought once before in the Philippines and has also competed off-island in Hong Kong and Korea.

Other fighters making the trip include Martinez’s teammates “Baby” Joe Taimanglo (10-4-1) and Ricky Camp (1-0).

Taimanglo is on a four-match winning streak since September 2009 and will welcome Korea’s Young Jun Kim to the cage in his mixed martial arts debut, while Camp will be setting his sights for win No. 2 against the Philippines’ Carlos Tiongson (3-1).

In addition, Ground Fu’s Tony Reyes (5-1), Counter Shot MMA’s Josh “The Hedgehog” Alvarez (6-3), and Guahan Top Team’s Alex Castro (6-8) will also be part of the action.

Reyes only fought twice since December 2009, but won them both and will challenge USA’s Roland Perez (6-4-1) of Alliance MMA, while Alvarez will try to bounce back from a pair of losses since last July and will take on the Philippines’ Rogelito Plomeda (2-1).

Like Reyes, Castro has also notched two wins in as many fights since December 2009. He will be pitted against USA’s Harris “The Hit-man” Sarmiento (31-22) of Hawaii’s 808 Fight Factory. The 28-year-old Hawaiian had a flawless 2010, but lost his last two fights since January of this year.

Fighters from the U.S., the Philippines, Brazil, South Korea, Guam, Hawaii, and Saipan are all scheduled to compete in PXC 24.

After the rematch, Fitial plans to return home immediately in time to help coach and support his fellow Marianas Elite fighters in Trench Tech Purebred Promotions’ Trench Warz 14: Ground Zero on June 17.