Courtesy: Team Lakay
Carlos Alvarez and Jean Claude Saclag both flexed their muscles in mixed martial arts’ Asian Games debut after guaranteeing the Philippines a pair of bronze medals on Sunday at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center.
The 27-year-old Alvarez, known as “Limitless” in the Asian MMA scene, knocked down Indonesia’s Ananda Wahyu Setyo in the men’s MMA traditional -77kg quarterfinals.
“At least nabawasan konti ’yong pressure kasi malaki pressure dito. At least ngayon may medal na tayong siguradong maiuuwi at ang goal namin talaga dito sa MMA is makuha ang gold medal,” the Filipino told POC Media.
Alvarez will go up against Yerkingali Burkutalin of Kazakhstan in the semifinals on Monday, September 21 at 9:40 a.m. Manila time, with a place in the gold medal match at stake.
Saclag, for his part, scored a unanimous decision win over Saud Fawaz Almolhem of Saudi Arabia in the men’s traditional -65kg quarterfinal round.
Saclag will next face Otabek Rajabov of Tajikistan at 10:20 am tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Gina Araos lost via submission to Kanjutha Pattaraboonsorn of Thailand in the women’s modern -54kg Last 8.
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