Baron "Beastmode" Gasler: Matos deserved the victory in URCC fight

After a highly publicized feud, ex-matinee idol Baron Geisler and indie actor Kiko Matos squared off in the steel cage on Saturday, with the fight ending in a unanimous draw.

The exhibition match at URCC Fight Night packed the Valkyrie Club in Bonifacio Global City, drawing even casual fans who were curious how the fight would turn out.

It wasn’t really as brutal as everyone expected, but the two inflicted some damage against each other in the two-round fight.

As promised, the two settled their differences and hugged in the middle of the cage. The fight stemmed from a bar brawl.

However Geisler admitted in his post-fight interview that he thinks Matos got the better of the action in their two-round openweight fight, which all 3 judges scored 19-19 even.

“Somehow I’m gonna give it to Kiko, both rounds. I think they gave me points just to stay in there,” the 34-year-old Geisler said.

Matos, 25, dominated the first round, getting full mount position on the “Anak” actor and raining down ground-and-pound punches. Matos was in position to end the fight early when the bell rang to end the first round.

It was clear that Matos did more damage to his opponent, as Geisler was left battered after the opening round encounter. Baron was able to generate more offense in the second round, but he did not damage his opponent significantly.

The ex-Pinoy Big Brother housemate Geisler praised his opponent, telling reporters: “If you watch the fight, you’d see that Matos really knows his game on the ground.”

Despite Geisler’s concession, Matos had no complaints about the decision, as long as he didn’t end the night with a loss.

“Ang sakin po, hindi ko naman po talaga habol manalo, ayoko lang po talaga matalo. Okay lang po maging draw,” Matos said.

(For me, it’s not that I want to win, I just really do not like to lose. A draw is okay for me.)

The fight was scored on a 10-point must system, meaning that the winner of each round would receive 10 points and the loser 9, regardless of the margin by which each man won their round.

The congeniality is a far departure from the pre-fight animosity which began when Matos struck Geisler at a Quezon City bar in May, which led to URCC founder Alvin Aguilar to offer to promote an MMA fight between the two.

Other pre-fight drama included Geisler kissing Matos at the contract signing, Matos kicking Geisler as he attempted to hug him, and Matos spraying Geisler at the weigh-in with a liquid that both initially claimed was urine, only for URCC officials to claim the liquid was beer.

Source:  Rappler.com

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