Cali takes on Taitano for PXC flyweight title

MANILA, Philippines—Ale Cali of Davao tries to become the first homegrown Filipino champion of Pacific X-Treme Combat when he fights Jesse Taitano Saturday in a flyweight titular clash at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

An entertaining sight inside the cage, Cali dropped his last three opponents with exceptional boxing coupled with an impressive display of dancing skills.

“I found out that fighting and dancing at the same time make me exhausted,” Cali cracked in Thursday’s press conference at Glorietta in Makati.

“I’m thinking of slowing down on those dance steps and focusing more on the fight,” added the former national boxer and Roy Jones fan.

If he doesn’t, Taitano, feared for his prolific ground skills and quickness, could shred Cali to pieces.

“I don’t underestimate him,” said Taitano, a wrestling and jujitsu expert from Guam who honed his craft in several mixed martial arts bouts in Japan. “My plan is to look for his weak spots.”

In the other co-main event of the night, reigning PXC lightweight champ Filipino-American Harris Sarmiento faces Raja Shippen, a fighter from Southern California who has Ultimate Fighting Championship rising star Mark Muñoz in his corner.

Muñoz, known in the UFC as the Filipino Wrecking Machine, is set to arrive tomorrow and will hold an MMA clinic at Gold’s Gym in Quezon City on Sunday, according to PXC general manager EJ Calvo.