Fight for Peace in Manila: After the Dust Has Settled
When In Manila, you need to have tenacity, courage and a never-give-up attitude to withstand any obstacles that come your way (and that includes the traffic,pollution and other everyday stressors hahaha). On the night of October 23, 2013, the best of Asia-Pacific’s MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) warriors showcased all of that, with its organizers hoping to promote peace between the Philippines and China by pitting their combatants against other countries.
Held at the lair called Newport Performing Arts Theater at Resorts World Manila, 24 warriors from a total of 9 countries pitted against and with each other in one night of non-stop action called Fight For Peace. Tony Reyes, head of World Team USA, and China’s Wulin Feng promoted this MMA event and it was broadcasted on both TV5 and in Henan TV. Apparently, Henan TV allowed this airing to be viewed by around 200 million people in China. Fight For Peace was a unique three-in-one program that featured 6 Kickboxing, 2 MMA, and 4 Muaythai Superfights, with the last hogging the spotlight with one WBC Championship fight!
“We want to do our bit to help promote peace between China and the Philippines. So instead of our fighters fighting their fighters, Chinese and Filipino warriors will battle fighters from Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA,” said Tony Reyes at a launch weeks before Fight For Peace.
(upper) Gong Yan Li was declared the winner of her bout vs Jade Hayes; (lower) Zhang Dezheng delivers a rattling front kick to Jiang Kai Chee
(upper to lower) Kodera flies a kick to Jakiri, while Saiful “The Vampire” Merican punches a beautiful kick to Li Ning’s temple
The following were the results of the one-night set of friendly fracas, with the winners highlighted in bold:
Match 1: 75kg- Li Quiankun (China) vs Stephane Lentz (USA)
Match 2: 70kg – Zhouyu Zhen (China) vs Iman Omrani (Iran)
Match 3: 75kg – Liou Dacheng (China) vs Matthew Richardson (Canada)
Match #4: 60kg- Gong Yan Li (China) vs Jade Hayes (USA)
Match #5: 60kg- Li Ning(China) vs Saiful “The Vampire” Merican (Malaysia)
Match # 6: 65kg Liu Xangming (China) vs TJ Arcangel (USA)
—-Dance Number by KZ and The Twisters—-
Match # 7: 60kg Ryan Jakiri (Phiippines) vs Kohei Kodera (Japan)
Match # 8: 70kg Zhang Dezheng (China) vs Jian Kai Chee (Malaysia)
Match #9: 57kg Jin Wenhao (China) vs Agustin Delarmino Jr (Philippines)
The WBC Championship Fight:
Match #10: 59kg- Bryan To Hang Lam (HK China) vs Reinhard “Badass” Badato (Australia)
—-Song Number by Andy Bais—
Match # 11: Arwin Lasutan (Safehouse) vs Dennis Salazar (WTUSA)
Match #12: Wu Tieyin vs Kaiwhare France (New Zealand)
Natalia, one of the beautiful Club S Ring Girls, and take note, the ring girls do MMA!
(upper left) TJ Arcangel; (lower left) Kohei Kodera; (upper right) Agustin Delarmin Jr; (lower right) Ryan Jakiri
Reinhard “The Badass” Badato throws a lethal punch to Bryan To Hang Lam but was evaded
“The Badass” stands tall victorious like a hero, with the Philippine Flag as his cape
(upper) the winning finishing lock delivered by Kaiwhare France on Wu Tieyin during the night’s ultimate match; (lower) the lone match that feature two Filipino MMA warriors facing each other, Arwin Lasutan and Dennis Salazar, with the latter edging the former
Agustin Delarmino holding the national flag up high as he comes out victorious
The host, Steve Patrick Moore, discusses details with Tony Reyes, the founder of World Team USA and the promoter of the event
“This is just the first of a series of world-class events we plan to organize in the country to provide a platform for brands to promote their products and for our fighters to compete against the best in the world to be discovered by bigger promotions,” said Reyes.
With this, he immediately announced that the next coming of this kind of MMA event will be on February 2014, carrying the name “Fight For Love”.
To give you a more in-depth story of October 23’s MMA melee, tune in for the Part Two of this feature for Fight For Peace When in Manila.
