Saturday, March 1, 2014

Mark Eddiva Emerges Victorious In His UFC Debut (Photos)

Going into the fight against Jumabieke Tuerxun as a 4-1 underdog, not many people thought the guy from the Philippines can pull it off. Needless to say, Mark Eddiva proved them all wrong by dominating his Chinese opponent en route to a unanimous decision victory. Eddiva was the less experienced fighter between the two having only 5 fights compared to Tuerxun's 14. However, when they finally squared off inside the UFC's octagon, experience wasn't much of a factor as Eddiva imposed his will upon Tuerxun throughout the fight. All three judge scored the fight 30-27 for the Team Lakay fighter.

This is not to mention the fact that Eddiva was inactive for over three years. His last fight before signing up with the UFC was way back in January of 2011. This long stretch of inactivity was one of the main reasons why many fans thought it'll be very difficult for him to win the fight against Tuerxun. But he proved that ring rust wasn't a concern of his by snatching the victory in a dominant fashion.

With the impressive win, Eddiva has opened a lot of doors for himself in the UFC. More fight cards are being lined up to be held in Asia (Japan and a second coming in Macau) by the biggest mixed martial arts organization in the world. The way he performed last night in Macau against a quality opponent like Tuerxun, the folks at UFC are surely paying attention now. With that said, let's hope we get to see Eddiva again in said upcoming cards.

Eddiva is the second homegrown Filipino fighter to fight in the UFC. The first one is Dave Galera, a fighter also from Team Lakay who debuted in the organization last January in a losing effort against Malaysia's Royston Wee.

Eddiva versus Tuerxun was the opening bout for the The Ultimate Fighter China Finale held in Macau, China yesterday (March 1). The main event was a welterweight showdown between Dong Hyun Kim and John Hathaway which the former won via a nasty spinning back elbow in the third stanza.

Eddiva pushing Tuerxun against the cage while raining down punches upon him. Photo: UFC Facebook Page
Eddiva celebrates as he's announced as the winner of the bout. Photo: UFC Facebook Page
Eddiva during the weigh-in a day before the fight.