Crisanto “The Slugger” Pitpitunge hardly broke a sweat in knocking out Justin “The Shocker” Cruz to take the latter’s bantamweight belt in Pacific X-treme Combat 31 held last July 14 (Philippine time) at the Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig City, Philippines.
After feeling each other out early in the first round of their championship fight for the Guam-based MMA promotion, Pitpitunge threw a right straight which immediately felled Cruz. Prone on the canvas, the already knocked unconscious Cruz received a couple more punches before referee Tony D’ Angelo stepped in between the fighters.
With the win, the Team Lakay warrior joins flyweight titlist Ale “The Young Gun” Cali as the first pair of homegrown Pinoy champions of the PXC.
In the co-main event, Strikeforce veteran Tristan Arenal submitted via armbar Richie Redman of Legacy Gym with only 30 seconds remaining in the third and last round.
The southpaw Redman dominated the first round with heavy standup punches, which bruised and bloodied Arenal’s face. The second round saw Redman continuing to land his power punches, but Arenal appeared to land more strikes with his fists and feet for a close round.
In the third round, Arenal showed more activity and started landing more punches, apparently hurting Redman who went for a double-leg take down ostensibly to avoid more punishment on the feet.
Arenal responded with a guillotine choke attempt and jumped to guard. On the ground, Redman struggled to free his neck, but just when he had slipped off the hold, Arenal niftily transitioned to a successful armbar attempt.
With the win, Arenal rose from his loss to TUF 15 qualifier Jon Tuck at PXC 28 who knocked him out in the first round of their main event fight for PXC 28. (“Interestingly” in that fight, referee D’ Angelo was likewise delayed in stepping in between the already unconscious Arenal and the standing Tuck, with the latter landing more punches before the third man’s intervention.)
Arenal joined his teammate Alvin Cacdac, another Filipino-American who earlier submitted by rear naked choke Rex Wa-O in the first round, for the post-fight celebration.
The following are the complete fight results courtesy of Joma Giron of The Pinoy Fighter blog:
Crisanto Pitpitunge def. Justin Cruz 1st round, knockout (punch) Pitpitunge new PXC bantamweight champion
Tristan Arenal def. Richie Redman 3rd round, submission (armbar)
Trevin Jones def. Guzman Pia-yas 1st round, submission (rear-naked choke)
Troy Bantiag def. Joseph Mercado Unanimous decision
Alvin Cacdac def. Rex Wa-O 1st round, submission
Eugene Toquero def. Victor Torre 1st round, TKO (doctor’s stoppage)
Rolando Gabriel Dy def. Alde Alonzo De Soza 2nd round, submission (rear-naked choke)
Micky Favis def. Glen Ranillo Unanimous decision
Arex Montalban def. Jerry Legaspi 1st round, knockout
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