MANILA, Philippines—Outside of the cage during the pre-fight introduction, Ale Cali couldn’t help but let a smile slip when the adoring crowd rallied behind him.
The pride of Davao City didn’t disappoint them.
Cali scored a technical knockout in the third round, becoming the first homegrown Filipino to claim a belt—the flyweight title to be exact—in the Guam-based Pacific X-treme Combat 29 Saturday night at the Ynares Center in Pasig City.
The 21-year-old pummeled Jesse Taitano, 34, with a flurry of head and body blows, his unorthodox striking style crumpling the Guamanian on the fence that forced the referee to end the fight.
“When I heard the crowd cheering for me, I told myself that I will never get out of that cage without the belt,” said Cali in Filipino.
But unlike his last three fights, Cali hardly pranced and clowned around, signature moves that brought him to the big stage.
“I will lose if I get tired. I made sure to control the pace. My game plan was to wear him out and defend when he takes me to the ground,” said Cali, who will use his earnings to bail out a brother from jail.
Taitano, an excellent grappler, brought the fight to the ground on five occasions but Cali managed to elude each time. Cali, who thrives standing up, sneaked in a punch in the belly late in the second round, sucking the air out of Taitano.
In the other co-main event, Filipino-American Harris Sarmiento’s overhand right smashed onto Raja Shippen’s temple, flooring the California native face first with 2:31 to go in the first round to win their non-title featherweight bout.
With the lack of worthy challengers in his division, Sarmiento, the reigning PXC lightweight champ, dropped to 145 lbs and clashed head-on with Shippen.
Wushu specialist Crisanto Pitpitunge and Baguio’s Troy Bantiag scored unanimous decision victories in the 135-lbs category while Glen Ranillo (155lbs) and Eugene Toquero (130lbs) submitted their opponents in the early rounds.
Ryan Boughton of California bested Ilima Maiava of Hawaii by decision, Guam’s Ryan Biggler choked Dorian Price of Ohio in the first round, and Jay Tenorio executed a guillotine on Carlo Astudillo in the supporting bouts.