Hofmann, Baduria, Lee, Biagtan and Easterling: Victorious at URCC XXX

URCC XXX did not disappoint! The night and its trip to the Big Dome, Araneta Coliseum on August 12 was great as expected! Talk about being on the edge of my seat!

The stacked event was headlined by Caloy Baduria and Mark Palomar. Both fighters looked dominant all the while the matchup was standing. Fierce rivals were exchanging blows. Soon the elusiveness and flurry of punches were having affect and Palomar was sent down to the canvas. Baduria came close to submitting Palomar with a rear-naked choke and the fight was over.

Robert Sothmann suffered a first round TKO loss to Chris Hofmann in a fight that crowned the two-division Champion for the third time with the URCC middleweight title. The man is making record like it's nothing! Hofmann's punches in bunches on Sothmann down the floor made referee Eusebio stopped the fight and it resulted in fireworks.

I will say it again, Chris Hofmann has amazing confidence. And he pours his heart and soul into every fight making him 100% prepared and always completely ready for battle. His great work ethic and attitude will take him places.

Who else thinks that Baduria's win now solidify his spot again as the no. 1 contender for the light heavyweight championship? Are we going to see the Hofmann-Baduria part 2 as well? We will see.

The strawweight championship is a No Mercy battle between two elite talents that need to shine. We witnessed incredible chins from this matchup. Fritz Biagtan landed mean strikes peppered with elbows and knees on Solomon Dultra. So he remained the ruler of his division. He took shots and superman punches from Dultra but refused to get outworked. What an insane start to the under card! The Fight of the Night for me!

And Do Gyeom Lee did it again! "The Undead" stopped Jeorey Orao in the opening round to successfully defend his featherweight belt for the second time. The Korean's back was on point, reversed and escaped the choke from behind. The tansition was awesome from side control to a beautiful ground and pound and rare-naked choke to win the match via submission!

Kiko Matos and Billy Sanchez faced off in a fight that hopefully end their war of words. Kiko Matos appeared to be ready for anything that came tonight. He looked good with that round one submission win.

John Adajar and Jet Hermida have shown a desire to take the fight to the ground. There were many submission attempts but "The Outlaw couldn't quite finish. He eventually made his opponent verbally tap out before the third round.

Second time's a charm for Team Estroso after triumphing over Team Gatmaitan to win the three-on-three matches. All six of the competitors nearly set off a brawl inside the cage.

What would a marquee names up and down the card be without a few upsets?

The short-lived excited MMA fans thought the fight will last until three rounds. It's unfortunate that former bantamweight champion Andrew Benibe got caught. He dropped after getting submitted by Mark Striegl via well executed Kimura in quick fashion.

Derrick Easterling and Jiar Castillo squared off in a standup and ground battle that pits two of the promotion's best flyweights against one another. The flyweight champion spoiled Castillo's hopes of bigger crowning achievement to his career in the second round. Easterling's walk out music was an absolute gold already! He walked the stage and proudly representing with the Philippine flag waving.

Results:

Main Card

Chris Hofmann def. Robert Sothmann, TKO (referee stoppage), Rd 1

Derrick Easterling def. Jiar Castillo, TKO (referee stoppage), Rd 2

Do Gyeom Lee def. Jeorey Orao, submission (RNC), Rd 1

Fritz Biagtan def. Solomon Dultra, TKO (referee stoppage), Rd 3

Mark Striegl def. Andrew Benibe, submission (Kimura), Rd 1

3 vs. 3

Sugar Ray Estroso, Iyoy Espinosa, Patrick Dos Santos (Team Estroso) def. Mark Gatmaitan, Brian Paule, Jovit Laxamana (Team Gatmaitan), Rd 1

Undercard

Caloy Baduria def. Mark Palomar, submission (RNC), Rd 1

John Adajar def. Jet Hermida, submission (verbal tap out), Rd 2

Ernesto Montilla Jr., def Nilo Vidal, submission (RNC), Rd 2

Kiko Matos def. Billy Jack Sanchez, submission (RNC), Rd 1