---

Click picture to start slideshow

---

Pinoy MMA fans had a real mixed martial arts feast as four of the biggest names in the sport came to the Philippine shores to lead the current stars of the octagon in the most prestigious event of the year, "The Ring of Fire World Team Championships" held at the Araneta Coliseum. Fight fans had a field day as Platinum Fighting Productions flew in four MMA legends, lead by 3time UFC champion and hall of famer Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, dubbed as the "world’s most dangerous man," former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett and the undefeated Armenian fighter, Gokor Chivichyan, to lead the four 5-man teams composed of the best MMA fighters in the world.

Royce Gracie leads this heavyweight cast. This is the second time the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu superstar has traveled to the Philippines. Royce is the first-ever winner of the universal fighting championship and is the first inductee to its hall of fame. He is the only man to win four bouts in one night.

Ken Shamrock was an accomplished professional wrestler before he entered the mixed martial arts cage and became the nemesis of Royce Gracie. The former UFC champion is one of the most recognizable faces in the MMA world and has coached many successful mixed martial artists in his Lion’s Den Fighting School.

Josh “The Baby-faced Assassin” Barnett has garnered 40 MMA victories under his belt with only five losses in his record. Also nicknamed the "Blueeyed Kenshiro," Barnett is most remembered for his win over Randy Couture, becoming the youngest UFC heavyweight champion in history at the age of 24.

Gokor Chivichyan is undisputedly one of the best submission artists and grapplers in the world. A judo and sambo expert, Gokor holds a pristine undefeated MMA record.

This is also the first time that Pinoy MMA fans witnessed women fight live. Tonya Evinger and Katrin Alendal of Team Gracie showed that women got what it takes to fire up the octagon like the men.

It was a revival of their legendary rivalry for Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock. This time, they did not enter the octagon but let others do the fighting as they stood in the sidelines and took on the role of coaches.

Gracie fielded a team of experienced grapplers, experts in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the very style that have won him fame in the martial arts world, while Shamrock made sure that he got everything covered, training his team both on the ground and on stand up. The action between the fighters of the two living legends ignited with clash of Evan Dunham of Team Shamrock and world Jiu Jitsu champion, Cleber Luciano of Team Gracie.

Dunham set the pace for Team Shamrock after sending Luciano tapping in the second round of their match with a choke. This was later on followed by more wins for Team Shamrock with Kyacey Uscola winning over Jorge “Makako” Patino via majority decision, and Mike Whitehead over Daniel Serafian via unanimous decision.

Former heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez defeated last minute replacement Kevin Fitial who flew in from Saipan only to be knocked down by Rodriguez with a kick to the leg in the second round, giving Team Shamrock its fourth win. Then it was the ladies’ turn in what could be the most anticipated match up of the night.

Tonya Evinger concluded Team Shamrock’s dominance of the octagon with a second round victory over Katrina Alendal via arm bar submission in the second round. Evinger, a veteran amateur wrestler dominated the fight. Alendal succumbed to Evinger’s solid stand up skills and speed on the ground. Her victory marked a clean sweep of their showdown with Team Shamrock winning over Team Gracie 5-0

Team Josh Barnett fielded a powerhouse cast of fighters lead by Japanese MMA superstar Yuki Kondo, Jeff the Snowman Monson, and submission expert Renato “ Babalu” Sobral, who surprisingly received the loudest welcome among the fighters. Team Gokor Chivichyan, the definite underdog, fielded relatively unknown fighters from Europe and America, but the undefeated MMA star Gokor made sure his fighters don’t go down easy.

Karen Darabedyan could’ve put victory in the bag for Team Gokor had he not been penalized for 2 unintentional groin strikes to Koji Oishi of Team Barnett. Oishi won by unanimous decision. Veteran Japanese fighter Yuki Kondo wins the second match for Team Barnett but had a tough time against Swedish shoot fighting champion August Wallen.

The commentators and the crowd didn’t expect Wallen would survive the whole 3-5 minute rounds, but he showed great mettle and faced Yuki head on. By the end of the match, Wallen’s left eye was swollen, but the gallant Swedish earned the respect of both MMA fans and fighters. Submission expert Renato Babalu Sobral secured the win for Team Barnett after disposing off Rodney Faverus.

The calm and composed Sobral brought Faverus down and applied a classic submission technique that sent the Dutch fighter tapping away. Then it was down to one. At first glance, the crowd didn’t give Hakim Gouram of Team Gokor a chance against the tough looking and veteran fighter Jeff the snowman Monson. Monsoon, an expert grappler wasn’t successful in trying to make the taller Hakim submit, as the Moroccan fighter also an expert in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu put his height into good use. The match stretched to 3 rounds.

Monson gets the judges’ nod, giving Team Barnett its fourth win, but he was so exhausted, he collapsed after the fight. Team Barnett will now face Team Shamrock in the second leg of the Ring of Fire World Team Challenge which will be held in Macau, China.

Our very own Pinoy Mixed Martial Arts Fighters also got to enter the octagon in this prestigious World Team Challenge event. The two veteran URCC WARRIORS Salvador Donacion and Lino Tagacay were striking experts. Donacion squared it off with Zac Light. Light was well aware of the Filipinos being killers in stand up and wisely decided to bring the Pinoy down on the ground and sent Donacion tapping one minute and sixteen seconds in the first round.

Expert striker Lino”the terminator” Tagacay also suffered the same fate when Guamanian Justin “the shocker” Cruz, also sent Tagacay tapping with a classic arm bar submission. It was a spectacular fight night. A Pinoy MMA fans’ dream. Superstars and legends all under the Big Dome. What more can they ask for.