MANILA, Philippines—Harris Sarmiento, the current PXC lightweight champion, relished the sight at ringside as he eagerly waited to see who his next opponent would be. The wait didn’t last long.
Jon Tuck of Guam sent Filipino-American Tristan Arenal to dreamland in a first-round knockout Saturday night at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City to seal a Pacific Extreme Combat 28 showdown with Sarmiento early next year.
Tuck, a grappling champion in Abu Dhabi, got off from a ground combat and uncorked three rapid-fire blows to Arenal’s kisser before the referee intervened with still three minutes and 45 seconds to go.
So devastating were the punches that it took Arenal, who had never been knocked out before, a few minutes to regain consciousness with blood oozing from his nose.
Tuck upped his impeccable mixed martial arts record to 6-0.
“He’s (Sarmiento) my kuya (elder brother) from another nanay (mother). I don’t know how it will work out,” said Tuck, 27, whose last trip to the octagon was in 2009 when he knocked out Filipino wushu artist Edward Folayang in just eight seconds.
A visibly disappointed Arenal, who traces his roots to Nueva Ecija, suffered his second defeat—and his worst—in six fights.