Ben Sosoli loses decision at PXC 56; Charlie Alaniz picks up submission victory

Melbourne based heavyweight Ben Sosoli dropped a close decision against Guam veteran Kelvin Fitial at Pacific Xtreme Combat 56 on Saturday night, while Hex Fight Series flyweight champ Charlie Alaniz made an impact in his promotional debut submitting Japan’s Seigo Yamamoto.

Sosoli vs. Fitial was primarily fought on the feet. Sosoli controlled the centre of the cage for the most part, moved forward, while also demonstrating great defense with head movement and a solid boxing attack.

For the majority of the bout, Fitial aimed for the counter with his striking techniques, mixing it up with knees and body-kicks.

The heavyweight slug-fest was a close back and forth contest, but in the eyes of the judges, hometown favourite Fitial did enough to be awarded the unanimous decision victory.

This fight was Sosoli’s (3-2) first outing since his 2015 win over Andrew Machin.

In the Alaniz vs. Yamamoto clash, the Japanese fighter initially proved to be a tricky opponent. Yamamoto used his reach to keep Alaniz at bay with a variety of strikes and showed great takedown defense early on in round one, until Alaniz was able to achieve a successful take down. Alaniz then began to reign down heavy ground and pound. Round one ended with Alaniz in top position as he viciously pummeled his opponent.

Alaniz started off round two by quickly charging forward with a wild flurry of punches. He then moved in for the takedown which was successful. As Yamamoto worked his way to his feet, he reciprocated with a takedown of his own, but Alaniz was able to pounce into top position and eventually sunk in a tight rear-naked choke forcing Yamamoto to tap.

With the win, Alaniz (9-2) rebounds from his KO loss that he suffered at the hands of Japan’s Masanori Kanehara late last year at DEEP Cage Impact 2016.

In the main event of the night, Hex FS regular JJ Ambrose earned a tough victory and the vacant PXC lightweight title over Japanese Deep veteran Takahiro Ashida.

Ambrose proved to be too strong in his grappling, and was relentless in his takedowns throughout the match. When the fight was taken to the ground, Ambrose initiated constant pressure as he smothered Ashida. Ashida was active from the bottom when taken down to the canvas and he did have success in the standup. The match was put to a halt in round four by Ambrose catching Ashida in a Guillotine Choke after an attempted takedown.

PXC 56 took place at the UOG Calvo Field House, Guam.

Results:

• JJ Ambrose def Takahiro Ashida via Submission (Guillotine Choke), Rd 4
• Kelvin Fitial def Ben Sosoli (Australia) via Decision (Unanimous)
• Charlie Alaniz (Australia) def Saigo Yamamoto via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2
• Michihito Abe def Shane Alvarez via Decision (Unanimous)
• Jun Yong Park def Ray Cooper via Submission (Anaconda Choke), Rd 1
• Jeff Mesa def Kai Kamaka via Decision (Unanimous)
• Frank Meno def Jose Ramirez via Decision (Unanimous)