Pacific Daily News from Agana Heights, Guam • Page A36

SPORTS guampdn.com Tuesday, January 1, 2013 36 on Guam By Phillip H. Blas Pacific Daily News premier mixed martial artist, Jon Tuck, accomplished what would have been the No. 1 local sports story in any other year. But coming out No. 2 take away from what Tuck did in 2012.

He became the first Guamanian to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship the top mixed martial arts competition where he defeated Tiequan Zhang of China via unanimous decision Nov. 10 at the Venetian Hotel in Macau, China. Prior to debut at UFC Macau, the Super Saiyan was featured on national television as he fought for a spot on Ultimate Fighter reality TV show. Tuck fought against eventual finalist Al Iaquinta, losing a 10-9 decision in the preliminaries. Tuck, a 2010 jiu-jitsu world champion, still managed to utilize his array of ground skills.

performance against Iaquinta helped him get noticed by the UFC and the result was his UFC debut later in the year. Tuck also headlined a Pacific X- treme Combat event earlier in the year, earning a victory over Tristan Arenal via knockout at PXC 28 in the Philippines. o. 3 prominence in the martial art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu continues to grow at a substantial rate, with evidence seen throughout the year. The Irvin Jiu-Jitsu Academy had three of its instructors promoted to the rank of black belt earlier in the year.

They are Pat Fleming, Omar Damian and William Escobar. The promotion ceremony was overseen by black belt and Purebred founder Enson Inoue, black belt Stephen Roberto and black belt Terence Aflague. Former Guam resident Mike Carbullido garnered two gold medals in the heavyweight purple- belt division at the 2012 Long Beach Spring Open International See Top 10 Page 35 UFC debut ranks No. 2 on list By Jojo Santo Tomas Pacific Daily News It took just three minutes for RJ Blas to make history for Guam. The superheavyweight judoka all 6 feet 1 inch and 481 pounds of him carried Guam with him in his match against Equatorial Facinet Keita, who hailed from a country of 10.8 million people.

When Blas swept leg to win by ippon in his opening match, his victory marked the first time any Guam Olympian, in any sport, advanced in a round by victory. Guam has competed in every Summer Olympics since Seoul in 1988. victory as well as Team overall participation and performance at the 2012 Olympics in London, England is top sports story for 2012. Blas, known as Little Mountain from had amassed a huge following since his Olympic debut in Beijing in 2008, where he faced two opponents the champion from Georgia as well as the U.S. champion and lost both.

The Little Mountain still was famous by the time London rolled around and when Blas faced the fighter from Guinea, fans from around the globe joined folks from Guam, anxious for live updates. Even in the middle of the night, people were hungry for information, and when he won? Well, his popularity went viral. Everybody loves an underdog, and there was 481 pounds of RJ to go around. Everybody got a piece: USA Today. Sports Illustrated.

Yahoo Sports. A live interview on CNN International. All the London newspapers and tabloids and newspapers that had never heard of Guam joined the fray of updated blogs, posts and threads. The RJ Blas phenomenon was absolutely viral. With cameras and reporters hounding him for quotes because of his straight talk and easygoing personality, Blas continued to be an ambassador for Guam and invited the world to visit his home country.

all about Guam. been all over the world because of this sport and, sure, I could try and represent the U.S. or move to another country and play judo there. But Guam has allowed me to do all of that, so no other place rather be, no other place rather represent. Guam is Blas said in an interview earlier this year.

RJ Blas told the world he could not have done what he has done without the support of the people of Guam, and he continuously thanked them. CNN.com did a positive feature on Blas and others as underdogs, and how they are the true heroes of the Olympics. To top it off, Yahoo Sports called him one of the 12 Titans of the Olympics. Blas lost to Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Oscar Brayson of Cuba in the round of 16, leaving him tied with seven others for ninth best in the world. not a medal.

But every medal starts with victory, and now got one. win got global attention that week but in the Mariana Islands, his victory will resonate through history. Team Guam historic feat was the highlight of a successful showing by Team eight-athlete contingent. Amy Atkinson broke a 22-year- old Guam national record in the 800- meter run and set a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 18.53 seconds. was everything I hoped it would be and more.

I really feel that support carried me through that race. I felt joy when I was running out Atkinson said after her race. Swimmer Pilar Shimizu finished second in her heat and stroked her way to a personal best 1:15.76 time in the 100-meter breaststroke. Wrestler Maria Dunn was just one point away from a chance to wrestle again after a loss to a Russian in the qualifying rounds. After her loss, she could only hope that Lubov Volosova would make the gold-medal match.

That would have brought Dunn to the repechage, or bracket, for a chance at bronze, but it was not to be. Swimmer Chris Duenas and 800- meter runner Derek Mandell both returnees from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing fell short of their goals and personal-best times. Marathon swimmer Ben Schulte, swimming the 10-kilometer distance for only his fourth time, missed his personal best time by five minutes, but received a standing ovation from the crowd. Mountain biker Derek Horton, who also represented Guam at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, finished two out of the six laps in the cross- country finals before exiting the race. Riders who fall 80 percent behind the leader are not allowed to continue a standard rule of the event.

Olympics topped all else Little Mountain from becomes media sensation Made history in London: Ricardo Blas of Guam, in blue, competes against Oscar Brayson, of Cuba, in white, during the plus-100 kilogram round of 16 elimination Aug. 3 in the London 2012 Olympic Games at ExCel-North Arena 2. Though he lost that match, earlier he defeated his opponent and became the first Guam Olympian to advance in a round by victory. He played a large role in Olympic efforts to rank at the No. 1 local sports story.

James TODAY Sports For more photos, go online to www.GuamPDN.com PHOTOS ONLINE.