Sunday, December 16, 2007 Quijano: Tete-a-tete with a Prince By Jingo Quijano Last Round
I SAW him a few months ago for the first time at a local URCC qualifying tournament. He made his hapless opponent tap out in the very first round. After being declared the winner, he then executed a backward somersault in the middle of the ring to the delight of the crowd. “That was one bad dude,” I recall having remarked to the Y101 crew sitting next to me, ably headed by judo master Nimrod Quiñones.
Turns out, that one bad dude did pretty well in his URCC debut, scoring the fastest knockout in its history—26 seconds.
A PRINCE. The local mixed-martial arts scene is a bomb waiting to explode into the mainstream. But I believe that every sport needs a breakthrough star, a flagship fighter that fans can look up to and other athletes can rally behind. A face. A prince.
Cary “The Prince” Bullos is 24 years of age and in his fighting prime. He holds a very impressive record of nine wins, 8 of them via knockout and one via submission. He stands 5-foot-7 and is quite a looker in person. Will he be the star that will put Cebu’s MMA fighters into the public’s consciousness?
Through a common friend, Dino Tormis—himself a mixed martial arts practitioner—and after extracting a promise from the “Prince” not to make me his 10th victim, the Last Round got close enough to determine what makes the Prince tick:
How did you get into martial arts?
“I started when I was eight years old. My brother Lyndel pushed me into it as I was always bullied when I was young and he had to take care of my opponent. Hehehe”.
“Taekwondo was my first discipline. In my first tournament, I won a bronze medal and my brother told me that I had potential in the sport. Thereafter, I won gold and silver medals and when I reached 15, my brother veered me towards kickboxing. We also had a separate trainer for boxing who came from the fabled ALA gym.”
It’s kind of hard to believe you were once bullied. What do you do when you’re not bashing heads?
“I am presently studying at AMA Computer Institute. My hobbies are playing football, basketball and going to the gym.” How would you describe your style and training methods?
“I am a well-rounded fighter as I combine ground and stand up fighting. For my training my brother decided to mix boxing, kick-boxing, grappling and judo. Basically, Lyndel is the one who formulates all our training and fighting strategies and techniques with the help of our older brother Kirby.
How was your first URCC experience?
“I never expected to qualify for URCC. Aside from me, I think there were two other Cebuanos who won their matches here, but I think I was the only one who was given the opportunity to fight at URCC. Alvin Aguilar, URCC founder said I would be representing not only my team (SELF-DEFENSE MMA) but also Cebu. Fortunately, I was able to give Cebuanos something to be proud of as I knocked out my opponent in the first round with one kick to the head...CHAMBA!”
No need to be so modest about it, we like our MMA fighters with attitude. Does your brother allow you to drink? You’re on the Last Round, so I just have to ask.
“When I’m not in training I can be a camel”
I’d probably have a chance of knocking you out.
“Haha. You can try.”
ANOTHER PRINCE. The Last Round is happy to welcome back the Nonito “The Flash” Donaire to our shores. I dub Nito as the “Prince of Philippine boxing.” Thanks champ for keeping your promise to return to Cebu and thank all those who supported you during your stay here. Here’s to a long royal reign! Cheers!
JAB OF THE DAY. “Haha! We are not afraid of Filipinos, only Manny Pacquiao”—Mexican TV host’s reply to Sammy Gelloani, manager of Bert Batawang who fights Ulises Solis today. (As posted on www.philboxing.com)
LAST ROUND. It’s on a good friend from way back from my UP days, Nani Puno and Jay, who are here in town for another kind of tête-à-tête. Cheers!
