Monday, July 16, 2007 Man of Steel eats dust By Rommel C. Manlosa Sun.Star Staff Reporter
KYLE “Superman” Thomas earlier thought his titanium-implanted left hand gives him an advantage against Filipino undefeated Mixed Martial Artist Jeffrey “Mac Hojas” Alcaraz in the Ground and Pound 3 at the Cebu Coliseum last Saturday.
However, it proved to be his weakness, as he was forced to surrender after Alcaraz got hold of his left hand for an arm bar in just 48 seconds of the first round.
Thomas, owner of View Point Resource Group Inc., a call center in Keppel Bldg. in the Cebu Business Park, suffered his first defeat against the very aggressive and very strong Alcaraz.
“I got hold of his hands and when he tried to lift me up, it gave way and he was forced to tap out,” Alcaraz told Sun.Star Cebu after his victory.
Alcaraz did not expect his eighth straight MMA victory to come too fast as he expected a tough fight against Thomas, who enjoyed a two-inch height advantage.
“He (Alcaraz) was too heavy. And when I tried to lift him up, this hand, which had titanium in it gave in. I heard a crack and I felt my arms go numb so I had to tap out,” Thomas said.
Thomas had a titanium plate implanted on his left hand after falling 50 feet in a rock climbing accident in his hometown in El Paso, Texas. That injury ended his American football career.
The two fighters needed no time to size up each other as they readily grappled each other before Alcaraz got hold of Thomas’ left hand before they fell on the canvas.
As Thomas tried to break free by lifting Alcaraz, a crack was heard at ringside and the American gladiator tapped out of the contest leaving his erstwhile unscathed record of 49 fights marred with one loss.
Other results
Engei Piloto, on the other hand, used a triangular choke to force Elmer Jandayan to submit at the 2:11 second mark of the first round.
Maxlito Yong, meanwhile, scored a technical knockout win when he rendered Tata Galendez defenseless after making a high mount at the 2:44 mark of the second round.
Junjie Abellana used a barrage of punches to score a TKO win over Nards Hernaez at 3:29 of the second round.
Danilo Teves used a rear-naked choke over Albert Estomago for a submission win at the 2:43 of the second round.
In the other fights, Eric Areglado used a guillotine choke to beat Justin Padillo and Demetrio dela Torre also used a guillotine choke to stop Thunder Taño.
In the Kickboxing matches Jay-R Villagracia scored a TKO win over Jobert Baylin; Michael Duncan also scored a TKO victory over Robert Taño.
Noble Ampoc gave everyone a scare as he landed a kick on Victor Catubig’s for a knockout win at 2:29 of the first round; Romnick Salabante scored a split decision over Pablo Santillan; Leo Gaerlan won by unanimous decision over Allan Orong; and Carlo Hernandez pulled a TKO win over Jun-Jun Ricablanca.
