Friday, February 13, 2015

Team Lakay Standout Roldan Sangcha-an To Fight For The UFC This Coming May

Team Lakay continues to make its mark as a fighter factory with the recent announcement that one of its wards Roldan Sangcha-an will once again fight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The Igorot mixed martial artist has been tapped by the UFC to face Jon Delos Reyes of the United States in the undercard of UFC Fight Night Manila which is set to unfold at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on May 16, 2015.

Sangcha-an, who holds an MMA record of 4 wins and only 1 loss is no stranger to the Octagon. In what would turn out to be the only blemish in his record, Sangcha-an signed up with the UFC last year and fought Richie Vaculik in New Zealand. Albeit it was a losing effort, Sangcha-an held his own against the more experienced Vaculik. It's also worth mentioning here that Sangcha-an fought Vaculik as a late replacement.

Delos Reyes, Sangcha-an's opponent this coming May also has experience fighting in the Octagon (even more so than Sangcha-an). His last two fights, both of which were losing efforts, were in the UFC. His current record stands at 7 wins and 4 losses.

With that said, this is a must-win fight for Sangcha-an and Delos Reyes. They are both coming off losses so either of them can possibly get cut by the UFC when the curtain closes on May 16. And whoever gets his hands raised will live to fight in the UFC for another day.

The 24-year-old Sangcha-an made his MMA debut in 2012. He racked up 4 straight wins, all of which were via stoppages (2 by knockout and 2 by submission), before the UFC got hold of him in 2014.
Roldan Sangcha-an (far left) with fellow Team Lakay fighters Crisanto Pitpitunge, Troy Bantiag, and Geje Eustaquio. Image credit: Team Lakay.
UFC Fight Night Manila will be headlined by a featherweight tussle between Frankie "The Answer" Edgar and Uriah "The California Kid" Faber. So far, the UFC has announced six fights in the card. See the developing card here.

Sangcha-an is one of three homegrown Filipino mixed martial artists who fought in the UFC. The other two are Dave Galera who has since been cut by the UFC and Mark Eddiva who currently holds a UFC record of 1 win and 1 loss. All three fighters fight under the Team Lakay banner. In an earlier article on the UFC website, Eddiva was named as a possible participant in the Manila event but so far no official announcement has been made that he will indeed compete this May.