INTERIM welterweight champion Will “The Kill” Chope seeks revenge when he takes on Filipino Brian Paule in the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) 85: Underdog at the DD Night Club along Tomas Morato in Quezon City on June 2.
Chope, a 32-year-old former Ultimate Fighting Championship, won three straight fights in various leagues—after he won the vacant interim URCC belt against already-retired Filipino Arvin Chan last December—before returning to the country to showcase his skills.
“Since winning the URCC title, life remains the same and hasn’t changed at all,” said Chope, a three-time URCC champion—with a 41-19 win-loss record. “I still actively coach and train and fight as much as I can.”
Paule, an expert in boxing and wrestling, defeated Chope five years ago via knockout in a mixed martial arts bout in Dipolog City. And he’s very much willing to prove to anyone that victory wasn’t a fluke.
“It’s my mission to get the title back for the Filipinos—a URCC title is for Filipino fighters,” said Paule, a 33-year-old fighter from Bulacan said. “I want to prove to everyone that I can beat him again.”
Paule is has an 8-1 win-loss record in MMA pro and amateur bouts.
Chope, however, said he’ll be wiser this time.
“Fighting Brian is just another fight. It’s nice beat him because I get to avenge my loss to him in a real fight, unlike in that exhibition match in 2017,” said Chope, who is now based in Thailand.
“That bout was just for fun and he weighed a lot more then,” he said. “I’m a lot bigger and also a lot better now.”
The URCC fight card organized by founding president Alvin Aguilar and URCC co-owner and general manager Aleksandr Sofronov is supported by Crazywin and the DD Night Club.
The co-main event pit Rugbi Boy (2-0) against Allen Wycoco (1-0) in a bare knuckle welterweight championship.
Details about the fight are available at www.urcc.online or download the official URCC app https://apps.wix.com/place-invites/join-lp/b4e05b90-55a0-40a8-8fac17ccf4a2c074?ref=pre_banner_top, which is available for iOS and Google.
The MMA preliminary fight pits Rhyle Lugo against Richard Lachica at featherweight and Tokartzhy Ushqyn against Dave Morata at lightweight. A bare knuckle featherweight fight between Gerard Sismundo and Dan Ascano is also on the card.
The Philippines Mixed Martial Arts Federation duels feature Jerald Vellarde against John Vallega at lightweight, Jessa Sarabia against Catherine Soria at women’s strawweight, Tristan De Mena against Shidjiroh Delantar at light heavyweight and Paolo Cruz against Gemil Clarinio at bantamweight.