Noblefranca faces tough foe in Zamboanga MMA tilt
Renan Noblefranca (left) and Ramil Yacapin (right) strike a fighting pose after their weigh-in for their kickboxing bout in Zamboanga del Norte on Saturday, November 12, 2022. | Contributed photo.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — YawYan ArDigma’s Renan “Limbas” Noblefranca faces a tough test against Ramel “The Warrior” Yacapin of the Team Goldflex Cagayan de Oro in the “Zamboanga Del Norte Amateur Mixed Martial Arts” on Saturday, November 12, at the Zamboanga Del Norte convention and sports center.
The 28-year-old Noblefranca of Talisay City Cebu, a former kickboxing champion will fight Yacapin in a non-title kickboxing bout in the undercard.
Yacapin is a pro boxer with a record of two wins, two knockouts, and six defeats. He also has a kickboxing record of 8-3 (win-loss).
Meanwhile, Noblefranca relies on his vast amateur record of 75 wins with one loss. Noblefranca also has a 1-1 (win-loss) record in his MMA career.
Both fighters passed the official weigh-in on Friday, November 11, 2022. Noblefranca weighed in at 59-kilograms, while Yacapin tipped the scales at 65kg.
According to Yaw-Yan Ardigma Cebu founder and chief executive officer Master Benigno “Ekin” Caniga Jr., Noblefranca trained for two months for this fight at the YawYan ArDigma Cebu gym in downtown, Cebu City.
One of the challenges he and Noblefranca will try to overcome is the fact that the latter’s opponent was changed four times.
Caniga Jr. admitted that they were already losing hope to land a fight in the undercard and had their game plan disrupted by the changes.
“He trained for two months, and it was a good training. We can’t predict if he can win this fight considering his opponent is tough and has knockout power. We almost quit for this fight after his opponent was replaced four times, but we’re now here, a day away from fight night,” said Caniga Jr.
Noblefranca will also try to shake off ring rust after more than two years of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Besides winning the fight tomorrow, Noblefranca and Caniga Jr. are aiming to land a contract with One Championships’ kickboxing event.
The main event of this MMA/kickboxing fight card features Hero Marco Manguray of Davao and American Mariano Jones.
Also, Cebu’s Arnel Ylanan of Seldef MMA/Ronin Jiu Jitsu Cebu takes on Victor Torre of Goldflex Gym Cagayan. /rcg
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