Wednesday, February 4, 2015

The UFC Names Two Team Lakay Fighters As Possible Participants For UFC Fight Night Manila

Last week, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced that it will be staging an event in Manila this coming May. Dubbed UFC Fight Night Manila, it will be the first Asian event for the company this year. It will also be the first ever UFC event to be held in the Philippines.

The UFC is yet to announce which of their fighters will be featured in the card but in a recent article posted on the company's official website, a few familiar names were mentioned. They are Mark Eddiva, Roldan Sangcha-an, Mark Munoz, John Dodson, and Chris Cariaso.

Munoz, Dodson, and Cariaso are all US-based fighters with Filipino roots. Eddiva and Sangcha-an, on the other hand, are local and homegrown mixed martial artists. Both fight under the Team Lakay banner and both have experience fighting in the UFC cage.

Thomas Gerbasi, author of the article published on the UFC website wrote, "No fights have been made official for the UFC Fight Night card, which was announced Wednesday evening in the United States (Thursday morning in Manila), and will air in the States on FOX Sports 1. But with rising stars Roldan Sangcha-an and Mark Eddiva hailing from Baguio City, and established contenders Mark Munoz, John Dodson and Chris Cariaso proudly representing their Filipino roots, there are plenty of options for UFC matchmakers not only in May, but in the coming years."
Image credit: Jason Silva of USA Today Sports.
Eddiva fought twice last year in the octagon. He handily defeated Jumabieke Tuerxun in his debut. However, he faltered in his second fight, losing via technical knockout to Edimilson Souza of Brazil.

Sangcha-an on the other hand made his debut in the UFC in June of last year in the undercard of the James Te Huna vs. Nate Marquardt fight which was held in New Zealand. He lost via unanimous decision to Richie Vaculik.