'Enough is enough': Pinoy MMA fighter taps out to spare opponent from further harm

In most fights, the losers surrender when they've been beaten to a pulp. This time, the victor decided that pummeling his opponent into submission wasn't worth it.

Mike Pantangco, a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter in the Prison City Fight League in Jackson, Michigan, tapped out in the opening round after it was clear that his bout was about to turn into a bloody mismatch.

Pantangco dominated his opponent, Jeremy Rasner, with a flurry of punches and kicks that left the taller American dazed, confused, and clearly out of place in the octagon. But instead of claiming the victory, Pantangco knelt down and tapped the mat, forcing officials to declare Rasner as the winner of the amateur flyweight bout.

"I just feel that there's no point in fighting him because he didn't train against me and I didn't train for him, and I just feel like we're amateur fighters," said Pantangco in a report on Inside MMA, a sports show on the American cable channel AXS TV.

The report also explained that Rasner was a substitute, as Pantangco's scheduled opponent was a late scratch.

"We don't get money, we don't get paid," he continued. "I know that the only thing I'm going to (sic) finish the fight is him to go in the hospital or get hurt. I just feel terrible, so I'm just going to give him the win."



Pantangco also commented on Inside MMA's Facebook post that featured his bout.

"Jeremy is our gym friend and he just stepped up to give me a fight. And I am sorry for all you guys who think I did him wrong or disrespected him. I know what I did and I am mad about it that I didn't give him a fight," he said. "But guys we're ammy fighters. We don't get paid. And if I would keep going I would've hurt him more, and maybe he get in (sic) serious injuries and maybe that make him stop doing what he loves to do. And maybe he become one of the best fighter alive, who knows?

"Just think about it guys. I don't care if my MMA record [has] one loss. Big deal. I know what i did and enough is enough." - JDL, GMA News