By Anna Valmero
PASIG CITY, METRO MANILA—Filipino-American striker Harris Sarmiento defended his lightweight championship belt over challenger and Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Isaiah Ordiz during the Pacific Xtreme Combat (PXC) 35 main bout Saturday night.
The Ilocos-born mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter employed a ground and pound strategy before setting up a kimura armlock to give the 6’1” Ordiz of Havtek United his first loss at PXC.
The Sarmiento-Ortiz match was among the most interesting title fights in recent PXC history since both are stand up fighters.
After his loss in PXC 34 to emerging MMA standout Mark Striegl, the 29-year-old Sarmiento expressed eagerness to fight again and is said to have requested another stand up fighter to give fans a more entertaining match on PXC 35, according PXC chief executive and promoter EJ Calvo.
Asked why he decided to take the fight to the ground to dominate his opponent via submission, Sarmiento explained that his game plan was consistent throughout the game: to win and take home his belt.
“A fight is a fight. And for some reason, this was the game plan,” Sarmiento said during the post-fight interview.
Sarmiento also announced on stage that he wants a rematch with Striegl, who was in attendance to watch his team mate from Baguio-based Fight Corps MMA in one of the nine bouts Saturday night.
The win arks Sarmiento’s 60th professional MMA bout and improves his record to 36 wins and 24 losses.
PXC 35 was one of the most interesting fight nights in the Guam-based tournament’s history after six of the nine bouts were finished via submission including the main bout, two by technical knockout and one via decision.
Sarmiento’s stablemate at Hawaii-based 808 Top Team, Louis “DaLast Samurai” Smolka was one of the big revelations during the PXC35 undercard fights after staging a strong comeback and winning over Alvin Cacdac via rear-naked choke.
Smolka bled throughout the first round with a huge cut on the forehead after receiving a strong punch from his opponent, who clearly dominated the first round. But Smolka dominated the second round and worked on using a rear-naked choke forcing his opponent to tap out.
At the post-fight interview, Smolka revealed that he is used to getting beat up a lot by his training mates. He said he specializes in wrestling and is used to taking beatings from takedowns, making for his solid ground and pound skills as well as stamina to last the fight.
“It (getting beat up and bloody) happens a lot, so I knew how not to panic and just keep fighting. It’s not meant to be part of my fight style, but it keeps happening so I suppose it might be,” Smolka said, promising to work on his submission skills for future fights.