Cali dangles title vs Tagle

Ale Cali will showcase newly developed skills when he defends his Pacific X-Treme Combat (PXC) flyweight title against Erwin Tagle at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.

Aware that he’s in for a tough battle against Tagle, a 34-year-old veteran considered as a Mixed Martial Arts legend in this side of the world, the 21-year-old Cali decided to add a new repertoire in his style for the 34th edition of the longest-running MMA promotion in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tagle is a boxing, jujitsu, and wrestling practitioner who is coming off a three-year layoff to fulfill his dream of fighting for an MMA championship.

“You’ll see a new Ale,” said Cali, a native of Davao, when he appeared with Tagle in the PSA Forum at Shakey’s Malate Tuesday. “I trained longer, especially with ground moves because that’s the specialty of my opponent.”

Cali trained under former national wrestling coach Marciano Basas. Roy Luarca