{"id":373821,"date":"2022-08-09T06:02:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T20:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=373821"},"modified":"2022-08-09T06:02:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T20:02:00","slug":"fitial-kod-in-second-round-by-rising-tafa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/fitial-kod-in-second-round-by-rising-tafa\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitial KO\u2019d in second round by rising Tafa"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>
Kelvin \u201cThe Big Hit\u201d Fitial, third from left, with Junior Tafa, second from left, after their heavyweight bout in Hex Fight Series 23 last Friday in Melbourne, Australia. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aussie newcomer Junior Tafa knocked out the CNMI\u2019s Kelvin \u201cThe Big Hit\u201d Fitial with a sharp uppercut to the chin with seconds left in the second round of their heavyweight fight in Hex Fight Series 23 last Friday in Melbourne, Australia.<\/p>\n

The loss dropped the 38-year-old Fitial\u2019s win-loss-draw record to 15-13-2, while the win was only the second for the 25-year-old Queensland native Tafa.<\/p>\n

Despite the loss, Fitial remained upbeat and was just glad he was able to show his wares again in the Land Down Under.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a milestone in my career as I was able to combine all the different elements I\u2019ve learned throughout the years. I felt great before, during, and after the fight. Of course, I wanted a win, but the journey and challenge, win or lose, is what keeps me going and motivated,\u201d he told Saipan Tribune.<\/em><\/p>\n

The former CNMI national cager and recent blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu thanked all his family, friends, and fight fans who continue to support him whether he wins or lose.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to thank my wife, my family, and my fans for the love and support they\u2019ve always given me. Also thank you to Junior Tafa for a great fight and to Hex Fight Series and staff for allowing me to fight in this event. Also thank you to my sponsors IT&E, DM Sablan Holdings, and to Blue Blood Muay Thai, Four Season Martial Arts, and to Trench Tech Gym,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fitial now has lost his last five mixed martial arts fights.<\/p>\n

Last April, Aaron Bush beat Fitial via submission in B2 Fighting Series 157 in Lexington, Kentucky.<\/p>\n

A month before that in March, \u200b\u200bthe CNMI\u2019s pride lost to Dominique Steele via unanimous decision in B2 Fighting Series 152 in West Virginia.<\/p>\n

In August 2021, Fitial was knocked out cold by Rakim Cleveland in B2 Fighting Series 132 in Kentucky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Curiously, Fitial\u2019s losing streak started in the Land Down Under when he succumbed to Ben Sosoli in Hex Fight Series 18 in March 2019.<\/p>\n

Fitial\u2019s last win he defeated Peter Miyasaki in Rites of Passage 21 \u201cThrowdown\u201d on Saipan in May 2017.<\/p>\n

Shake \u201cPikaboo\u201d Alvarez served as Fitial\u2019s cornerman against Tafa in Hex Fight Series 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aussie newcomer Junior Tafa knocked out the CNMI\u2019s Kelvin \u201cThe Big Hit\u201d Fitial with a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":373808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-373821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-saipan-tribune"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}