With back yard training in their hands, seven Tinian MMA fighters who were inspired by NMI first title belt holder, Keli “The Rukiz” Manglona, showed great skills when they fought in the Rites of Passage 8 Fearless two weeks ago.
Three of them—Gerry Mundo, Craig Borja abd Pete Cepeda—brought with them their first MMA 1-0 record after defeating their respective opponents from Saipan and Guam.
Along with first victory, came their humble story.
Zeng Zung’s Josh Castro, in an interview prior to the ROP 8 fights, said that despite the lack of training facility on Tinian, these new breed of fighters who initially called themselves the Magnificent 7 were oozing with morale when they left the island for their debut fight.
Trench Tech Purebred Saipan, one of the pioneer MMA gyms in the CNMI was on Tinian over the weekend to conduct seminars and training with the members of Team ZengZung.
Trench Tech promoter, Cuki Alvarez noted that after the Tinian fighters did a great job in the ROP 8, “the MMA hype on the island hit an all time high and the momentum has caught the interest of a lot of kids and adults there.”
Aside from the seminars and training, Trench Tech also donated $500 to Team Zeng Zung to help them repair their boxing ring and other training facility.
Team Tinian’s Keith Nabors received the donation from Alvarez. Also there to witness the presentation of the check were Jaunis King and Zeng Zung’s Josh Castro.
Alvarez said Team Tinian is composed of individuals who helped encourage all of the Tinian fighters to participate in Trench Warz events and are keeping all the fighters in shape by training them and keeping them focused.
