ISAIAH Ordiz believes Pacific X-Treme Combat lightweight champion Harris Sarmiento’s recent loss could have gone either way, but the challenger aims to use the same tactics that led to Sarmiento’s downfall in their title fight in PXC 35 on Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Ordiz, though, remains wary of the champion, who moved one weight class down and lost a quick first-round non-title bout via submission to rising mixed martial artist Mark Striegl last November.
“I don’t look at the previous fight of Harris,” Ordiz said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday. “For me, Mark made a good game plan of taking down Harris.”
“But we don’t know. What if Mark wasn’t able to take down Harris and it became a stand-up fight?”
A stand-up fight is exactly what Ordiz, unbeaten in two matches, is exactly trying to avoid against Sarmiento, who totes a 35-24 record. And the challenger is looking to capitalize on his height and superior ground game.
“It’s obvious that my height and length (are my advantages) but aside from that, it’s good to know that Harris and I are equal in other terms like ground,” said the 6-foot-1 Ordiz, who boasts of seven Brazilian jiu jitsu tournament gold medals under his belt.
Still, the challenger is prepared to take on his Filipino-American opponent’s strength.
“I got good hands. Harris got good hands. Harris is a gamer. I’m a gamer so it’s gonna be fireworks come February 16. I can promise you that,” said Ordiz, who has a chance to become the third pure Filipino to be crowned PXC champion after Ale Cali (flyweight) and Crisanto Pitpitunge (bantamweight).
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