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| Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) President Alvin Aguilar with the participating fighters set to compete in the URCC Prodigy Succession Series (Image Source: Manila Standard/Universal Reality Combat Championship) |
Various mixed martial artists from across different parts of the archipelago will earn a great opportunity to showcase their worth as they fight for a huge cash prize and, hopefully, a chance to reach the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC)’s main roster in the Prodigy Progression Series (PPS). The mixed martial arts fight series powered by the Philippines' premier combat sports organization URCC, headed by the founding Father of Filipino MMA Alvin Aguilar, was formally introduced in a media event held last June 7, 2024 at the Dynasty Fight Club in Parañaque City.
Rene Catalan Jr., son of former ONE Championship title contender and 2006 Doha Asian Games wushu sanda gold medalist Rene Catalan Sr., and Marvin Malunes were some of the fighters that attended the press event. Aguilar, who is also the URCC President, confirmed that a prize pot worth a total of Php1M in cash is at stake in the MMA tournament series backed by Dynasty Fight Club owner Jun Lee. “In this format, we’re going to make sure that we will be giving the highest payday ever in Philippine MMA history for all the winners. This will be a big life changer for a lot of fighters," said Aguilar. The tournament’s final champion of each division will take home half of the pot (Php500,000) while the other finalist takes home Php300,000 and the third placer bags Php200,000. The tournament’s finals is slated to be held on a later date to be announced soon. Lee praised URCC and Aguilar for the wonderful program for MMA fighters as it sustains their livelihood and lets their fighting career continue.
The fighters, according to Aguilar, are divided into four weight classes, flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight categories. The tournament is currently ongoing and is held every night from 9:00 pm to 3:00 am. Aside from the tournament’s final champions, the monthly winners starting July will also be rewarded with a prize of Php300,000 for first placer, Php100,000 for second, and Php50,000 for third. Amateur rules will be applied in every fight within the PPS but Aguilar is looking at the possibility that the champions will eventually get their first pro contracts in the URCC, stating, “We’re giving them very very good contracts. We are promoting a platform where it will become self-sustaining, hopefully. All the fighters can benefit, and later on, we can actually give them good careers in MMA.” All the fights will be streamed live on iWantTFC, URCC's official digital broadcast partner, and are slated to be aired on national television which will be disclosed upon successful negotiations with potential linear broadcast partners.
