URCC XVIII Relentless in Makati P.I.
I do not own or operate a gym.
I have to my credit, one guy I train with.
His name is Nate Flores and I was his first MMA coach 6 years ago when Nate was 13 years old. I left the gym we both trained at in 2007 and I thought I would never train with Nate again...
In August 2009, I met Nate in the hallway of the Northern Marianas College where coincidentally I work and he recently started attending.
That's the start of the journey for which I am about to tell...
15 months of training together and a fight record of 2 - 0...
Fast forward to last Wednesday November 10th...
Nov.10, 2010 3:55 pm - The island of Guam
Nate and I stopped by Fokai Industries - Received blessing from Roman Dela Cruz President of Fokai Industries and a personal friend.
No.10, 2010 9:00 pm - International Airport Philippines
Arrive at airport to meet Wil Salazar to give him a present from his dad whose back on Saipan. Wil's telling us all about Nate's commercial on T.V.
We take a cab to the hotel. Thinking about the 4 pounds Nate needs to cut. Hoping that water logging trick works.
I'm sorry I didn't mention why we are there...
Nate is fighting in the co-main event for the URCC Flyweight Championship Belt
Nate and I are part-timers in the sport. We train 1/4 of the time other athletes and trainers work together.
I want to get the images out there in sequence to give a visual glimpse of this sureal weekend.
Nate and I arrive at the hotel Wednesday Night
Nate - 1st Night At the Hotel (The Giant bilboard ad can be seen outside our window)
Here's Nate with the awesome billboard as seen from our room.
A 19 year old from Saipan and you have your face on a 60ft billboard - Thanks MMA!
All through the night the URCC XVIII Relentless Commercial was airing on television. The experience was both very exciting as well as bit stressful to watch at times.
Nate at the GAB office getting his license to fight
I have to my credit, one guy I train with.
His name is Nate Flores and I was his first MMA coach 6 years ago when Nate was 13 years old. I left the gym we both trained at in 2007 and I thought I would never train with Nate again...
In August 2009, I met Nate in the hallway of the Northern Marianas College where coincidentally I work and he recently started attending.
That's the start of the journey for which I am about to tell...
15 months of training together and a fight record of 2 - 0...
Fast forward to last Wednesday November 10th...
Nov.10, 2010 3:55 pm - The island of Guam
Nate and I stopped by Fokai Industries - Received blessing from Roman Dela Cruz President of Fokai Industries and a personal friend.
No.10, 2010 9:00 pm - International Airport Philippines
Arrive at airport to meet Wil Salazar to give him a present from his dad whose back on Saipan. Wil's telling us all about Nate's commercial on T.V.
We take a cab to the hotel. Thinking about the 4 pounds Nate needs to cut. Hoping that water logging trick works.
I'm sorry I didn't mention why we are there...
Nate is fighting in the co-main event for the URCC Flyweight Championship Belt
Nate and I are part-timers in the sport. We train 1/4 of the time other athletes and trainers work together.
I want to get the images out there in sequence to give a visual glimpse of this sureal weekend.
Nate and I arrive at the hotel Wednesday Night
Nate - 1st Night At the Hotel (The Giant bilboard ad can be seen outside our window)
Here's Nate with the awesome billboard as seen from our room.
A 19 year old from Saipan and you have your face on a 60ft billboard - Thanks MMA!All through the night the URCC XVIII Relentless Commercial was airing on television. The experience was both very exciting as well as bit stressful to watch at times.
Nate at the GAB office getting his license to fight
Nate and his goofy coach
The band is above the Fighters entrance...
Getting taped up with plenty of time to wait...
No Pressure Nate - btw, Royce Gracie will be in the audience for your debut fight...
We are the 2nd to last fight of the night and the house is packed...
Below is the news flash from the day after the bout...
And the photo below is no photo shop...
Yes, we hung out with the legend Royce Gracie...
Actually, that was the second time we spoke with him...
The first time was earlier that night - backstage at the warm-up area minutes before Nate was to go onstage. Royce spoke with us briefly talking about a few things - including fight advice. The first man to do the equivalent of landing on the moon for MMA was givings us vale tudo advice...
Thank you God for my stay last weekend! After a weekend like I had, I am certainly aware that God exists - I'll never understand the ignorance of skeptics that go through life thinking that life is just a random series of unrelated acts and then you die. But then again, why should I care about waking somebody up when they are happy being asleep?
In the next 24 hours Nate cut to 145 pounds, weighed-in Friday afternoon, and then replenished his body back up to 153 pounds with timed meals and rest...
Fast forward to Saturday (Fight Day)
The band is above the Fighters entrance...
Getting taped up with plenty of time to wait...
No Pressure Nate - btw, Royce Gracie will be in the audience for your debut fight...
We are the 2nd to last fight of the night and the house is packed...Below is the news flash from the day after the bout...
In the Co-main Event, Eric "The Natural" Kelly of Yaw-Yan Ardigma battled Nate "The Terrible" Flores of Predator Combat/Konflikt MMA who flew in from Saipan. This fight was for the vacant Featherweight Championship.
They did not waste their time feeling each other's distance as both came out swinging at the center of the ring with the technical striker Flores landing more flush shots.
Kelly would try to land strikes of his own but Flores took minimal damage.
The Saipan fighter would initiate the action relying on his superior boxing tagging Kelly with his hands.
"The Natural" would not back down though and forced Flores to get into a clinch where he quickly took the fighter down. Flores is no stranger to the ground as he stumped his opponent's attempts to pass his half-guard.
Kelly threw punches from the top position forcing Flores to turn and show his back. Kelly took the opportunity and forced a rear naked choke on his opponent.
"The Terrible" would fall short on his bid to take home the belt to Saipan as Eric "The Natural" Kelly is now the Featherweight Champion.
Now that the fight is over...
Other pics after the fight...
They did not waste their time feeling each other's distance as both came out swinging at the center of the ring with the technical striker Flores landing more flush shots.
Kelly would try to land strikes of his own but Flores took minimal damage.
The Saipan fighter would initiate the action relying on his superior boxing tagging Kelly with his hands.
"The Natural" would not back down though and forced Flores to get into a clinch where he quickly took the fighter down. Flores is no stranger to the ground as he stumped his opponent's attempts to pass his half-guard.
Kelly threw punches from the top position forcing Flores to turn and show his back. Kelly took the opportunity and forced a rear naked choke on his opponent.
"The Terrible" would fall short on his bid to take home the belt to Saipan as Eric "The Natural" Kelly is now the Featherweight Champion.Now that the fight is over...
Other pics after the fight...
And the photo below is no photo shop...
Yes, we hung out with the legend Royce Gracie...Actually, that was the second time we spoke with him...
The first time was earlier that night - backstage at the warm-up area minutes before Nate was to go onstage. Royce spoke with us briefly talking about a few things - including fight advice. The first man to do the equivalent of landing on the moon for MMA was givings us vale tudo advice...
Thank you God for my stay last weekend! After a weekend like I had, I am certainly aware that God exists - I'll never understand the ignorance of skeptics that go through life thinking that life is just a random series of unrelated acts and then you die. But then again, why should I care about waking somebody up when they are happy being asleep?
posted by Gorilla Revilla at 9:38 PM
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