URCC University Challenge

Saw this on Solar Sports. The URCC University Challenge. The 3 main events were all Ateneo vs. La Salle. It was a shutout, 3-0, in favor of Ateneo.

Ronnie Ticao of Ateneo d. Doi Rodriguez of DLSU, pinweight. Via kimura elbow lock after mounts and raining punches.

Ryan Philip Marquez of Ateneo d. Nico Presbitero of DLSU, flyweight. Via rear naked choke after rubber guard gogoplatas and full mounts.

Mikhail Ignacio of Ateneo d. Paolo Gomez of DLSU, bantamweight. Via kimura elbow lock. After knees, mount and raining strikes.

It's Ateneo's year.

Elite XC: Destiny, Gina Carano vs. Julie Kedzie

Just a quick one, I know it's old (last year), but I finally saw the groundbreaking FIRST female Mixed-Martial Arts (MMA) on PPV over at Elite XC: Destiny on Solar Sports.

The three-round fight was between (predominantly) Muay Thai stylists Gina Carano and Julie Kedzie. That being said, as expected, it was more of a striker slugfest lacking much in the groundwork action department. Kedzie, who had included Brazilian jiujitsu in her training regimen, was the one with who tried to execute some takedowns. Carano stood her ground and was seldom taken to the mat, even pummeling Kedzie ground-and-pound style on several ocassions when Kedzie laid on her back. I won't tell you who won, you have to watch it yourself, but I could say Kedzie was knocked down in the second round.

It was groundbreaking, in a way, as former wrestler and Elite XC color commentator Bill Goldberg put it. Not really much of a surprise for an alpha male gorilla like me. I've dropped the "She fights like a man..." and "He's a shrimp..." phrases from my vocabulary having sparred  with and been beaten by girls and smaller adversaries in the gym at kendo. Yeah, that fact I don't and won't deny. The stronger one doesn't always win, neither does the faster one. It's usually, but not always, the one with better technique and the one who has put his / her heart and soul into it more who does win. Sometimes it's also part luck. I'd like to think it's a combination of all the above.

Much respect and gorilla love. :D

PS. Oh yeah, by the way, Carano is also "Crush" in American Gladiators, another show I watch (in addition to CSI, Mythbusters, the History Channel shows, Discovery shows, Discovery Travel and Living ink shows and the WWE). :D

Mixed Feelings: Komiks, Sick, UFC, Flat Tire, Cibo and Busted Pipes

It's been a rollercoaster of a week for me.

Been sick for a week, cough, cold and flu...

Yesterday was great. Ate at Cibo, Alabang Town Center, for Grandparents day. Mom was there with me, my sister and brother-in-law and with my two pamangkin-inaanaks. Hats off to Cibo for being a kid-friendly place.

Also saw the UFC on Solar with light heavyweight champ Quinton Rampage Jackson winning over PRIDE welterweight and middleweight champ Dan Henderson.

Today started bad. We woke up to a pool of water in the kitchen. Mom was stressing out, we thought it was a busted underground metal pipe. It turned out to be a busted overground pvc pipe. Done and repaired already by the plumber when we got home tonight.

Today turned worse. Had a flat tire on the way to Mendiola to drop off Mom. Hard to change a flat in blistering heat. Had the busted tire vulcanized too this night.

Lastly, I am currently watching Carlo J. Caparas and Donna Villa on Manoling Morato's Dial M on NBN 4. Caparas is trying to revive the local komiks industry. A bit of controversy, though. His latest large komiks strip in the PDI (Philippine Daily Inquirer) displaced  6 local comicstrips. Why the local guys and not the foreign ones? That's a question I was wondering about.

Mixed feelings, really...

UFC 74: RANDY COUTURE DEFEATS LEGEND KILLER GABRIEL GONZAGA

RANDY COUTURE WINS AGAIN - KEEPS UFC TITLE! Good GOD! Randy has put a stop to the legend killer Gabriel Gonzaga. Gonzaga took on Mirko Crocop in his UFC debut where everyone was expecting a massacre at the hands of the K1 and Pride superstar. They were wrong. Gonzaga proved the better with hard-hitting knockout kicks and punches. He took out Crocop with a high kick to the head, a stunning upset in the history books of the UFC.

In his fight with Couture, Gonzaga made use of those hard-hitting knockout kicks and punches. But Randy's battle plan was to avoid those barrages as well as avoid being taken to the ground by the braziian jiu-jitsu mixed martial artist. Randy instead  took him to the mat where the ground and pound began. Third round stoppage on strikes. Chalk up another win for Couture. Gonzaga on the other hand walks away with a badly bleeding broken nose and the heart of a warrior and future champion. Hats off to him too. But damn, Randy Couture in MMA makes me proud to be old. :D  

It was also nice to see Georges "Rush" St-Pierre right back on track with a unanimous decision win over Ultimate Fighter alumnus Josh Koscheck.