URCC X - MIXED MARTIAL ARTS MANILA- THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD

It was Drini aguilar the host of URCC X who pointed out the painfully obvious- That the lakay wushu "boys" had legs that looked like they were made of narra. Their upper bodies also looked like they were carved out of some species of hard wood. The guy beside us mentioned that if they were carrying a slain deer on their shoulders they would look exactly like those wooden Igorot statues sold in baguio or in Tesoros.

Imposing physique aside - this was not the only unsettling feature of these "new" fighters in the URCC. They also looked superbly conditioned and supremely confident. Its the kind of air that a weathered veteran athlete brings to a high-school varsity try out.

Kevin Blingon and Eduard Folayang - two of our best sanshou-wushu international competitors representing the Lakay-wushu team, steam- rolled the competition with thier grit, endurance and power. Not to mention experience. These guys train year round and have several major competitions a year.

In stark contrast, Richard Lasprilla and Allan Co have both since taken on the 9-5 world and by comparison have put in just a modest amount of training leading up to their respective fights.

The result was moot and academic. Richard lasprilla,URCC flyweight champion , lost via UD to Kevin Belingon. Bloodied and bruised, lasprilla took a beating in all the rounds, although he gave almost as good as he got, it was clear that lasprilla had not faced this caliber of competition in the URCC.

Allan Co, the man who easily defeated Caloy Baduria for the Belt ( and made caloy look like an astronaut launching him into orbit several times in the bout) was handily beaten by what looked to observers as a mountain of muscle crashing down on Allan - it gave new meaning to the term "landslide victory" - thats what they should call Eduard Folayang - "the Landslide" - a force of nature to be truly reckoned with.

Both champs, (former champs) have nothing to be ashamed of. Allan and Richard fought tremendously to the last tooth, nail and claw. Lasprilla never giving up ground, Co valiantly struggling to keep from being buried alive by blows from Folayang- the match mercifully stopped by referee Lepiten in the first round.

Mixed martial arts in the Philippines has never looked so promising after the spectacular showing of the lakay wushu team. Gone are the days of semi-pro 9-5 weekend warriors. The Benguet brawlers sent a message to all URCC and local MMA aspirants- if you want to be competitive in this arena you have to take your training up several notches - just to keep from being murdered.

The tour de force of Lakay Wushu in URCC X has fast-tracked events in local MMA. Their performance that night ushered in the proverbial changing of the guard.

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