MANILA, Philippines – Filipino fighter Crisanto Pitpitunge was forced to withdraw from his 3-round flyweight bout against Mexican stalwart Ivan Lopez on the undercard of Brave Combat Federation’s inaugural event on September 23 due to a knee injury.
The Bahrain-based mixed martial arts promotion announced Pitpitunge’s sudden pullout through its official website, and the company is now looking for a late replacement to face Lopez.
Pitpitunge accepted a one-fight stint in Brave Combat Federation after parting ways with Pacific Xtreme Combat (PXC), where he had 11 matches in his 5-year run and held the organization’s bantamweight championship.
With Pitpitunge out of the event, Team Lakay colleague Stephen Loman will be the lone representative on the fight card, which takes place at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Manama, Bahrain.
Loman is set to square off with Irish combatant Frans Mlambo in a 3-round bantamweight encounter.
Loman (6-2), who also competes under the PXC banner, has already fought twice in 2016, yielding to Rex de Lara by way of 12-second knockout last January before redeeming himself with a unanimous decision victory over Ernie Braca this past April.
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<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rex De Lara finishes Stephen Loman in just 14 seconds with a counter right. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PXC51?src=hash">#PXC51</a> <a href="https://t.co/2qVkk4Mi1o">pic.twitter.com/2qVkk4Mi1o</a></p>— NISSI ICASIANO (@Nissi_Icasiano) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nissi_Icasiano/status/688337009606131712">January 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="cy" dir="ltr">Stephen Loman def. Ernie Braca via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PXC53?src=hash">#PXC53</a> <a href="https://t.co/SxGeu4T4iY">pic.twitter.com/SxGeu4T4iY</a></p>— NISSI ICASIANO (@Nissi_Icasiano) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nissi_Icasiano/status/718441669431926784">April 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
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In the other corner, Mlambo (2-1) only turned professional in 2015, winning 2 of his last 3 prizefighting outings via first-round technical knockout.
The 25-year-old Irishman trains at SBG Ireland, which is a home to a number of top UFC fighters such as featherweight kingpin Conor McGregor, Gunnar Nelson, Paddy Holohan, Aisling Daly, Makwan Amirkhani and Artem Lobov. – Rappler.com