Top 10 Best Filipino MMA Fighters

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2019 seems to be the year for Filipino athletes. For example, pole vaulting star EJ Obiena just recently qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a vault height of 5.81m, making him the first Filipino to gain a berth for Tokyo. Obiena is also one of the country’s gold medal hopefuls for the 30th SEA Games to be held this November and December. The second Filipino to qualify for the upcoming Olympic Games, gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo, won his own Olympic spot at the 49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

There’s nothing like professional sports to get your blood pumping, and the Philippines has shown that it can hold its own on the international level. Boxing greats like Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire have proven their mettle against dozens of international opponents time and time again. In fact, such is the skill of Filipino boxers that there were no less than six boxing world title winners carrying the flag of the Philippines in 2018 alone.

When it comes to fame inside the ring, Filipinos don’t fall too far behind. With the rise of MMA (mixed martial arts)’s popularity, several Filipino fighters have made names for themselves on the international stage. Such is the growth of MMA as a sport in the Philippines that ONE Championship recently announced a 2020 reality show competition to find the next best Filipino fighter. The show will culminate in a tournament, with the winner taking home a USD100,00 prize.

With MMA slowly gaining popularity in the country, it’s only right that we should take a look at some of the biggest names in the sport currently. Here’s a list of the top 10 best Filipino MMA fighters in the country.

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A Definitive Guide to Festivals in the Philippines

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Whether it’s an intimate gathering of family and close friends, or a huge celebration that includes the whole village, Filipinos love parties. The Filipino fiesta or festival has been a momentous event binding communities together for centuries, with the tradition tracing back to the Spanish colonization.

There are plenty of festivals in the Philippines — every local province, city, and town has a different patron saint, and each one is celebrated in a unique way as defined by cultural traditions. Some festivals include large celebrations that are attended by thousands, with extravagant and lively parades, events, and street celebrations, while some are small and involve potlucks between families and neighbors.

If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind experience, here’s a list of some of the biggest, grandest festivals in the Philippines.

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The Most Popular Tourist Destinations in the Philippines

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2018 was the year when tourism in the Philippines hit an all-time high. The Department of Trade and Industry reports a recorded 7.1 million foreign tourists that visited the country, an increase of 7.7% when compared to 2017’s statistics. This year, the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down, with the Manila Standard noting foreign tourist arrivals in the Philippines increasing to 12.4% in the first seven months of 2019 alone.

Domestic travel also seems to be flourishing these past couple of years. The Department of Tourism’s (DOT) recorded number of domestic travelers have already exceeded 97 million since 2017, which prompted the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) to revise their target of 89.2 million domestic tourists by 2022. This has been a fairly recent trend, too, with DOT noting that these statistics have doubled from the 45 million domestic tourists recorded four or five years ago.

With the tourism industry booming, the tourism market is catching up with things that make traveling easier and more accessible. As noted by lifestyle magazine Preen, seat sales and apartment rental apps like Agoda or Airbnb make booking your next getaway easier and more wallet-friendly.

If you’re already building up your wanderlust spirits and looking for your next R&R destination, here are some popular locations in the country that you might want to look into.

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10 Local Foods to Try When Visiting the Philippines

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Filipino food can be considered an underdog when it comes to internationally-acclaimed cuisines, but according to an article by Vice, it’s been slowly gaining traction and charming palates from around the world.

The slow rise of the global popularity of Filipino cuisine might be due to its complexity, with its various elements and the wide variety of culinary traditions in the archipelago alone. Food website Pepper.ph says that the food traditions of the more than 80 ethno-linguistic groups in the Philippines can be hard to capture. Add the fact that most ingredients that are staples in Filipino cuisine can be hard to come by internationally, which makes authentic Filipino cuisine difficult to achieve in other countries.

This only proves the fact that the only place to enjoy the best Filipino food is in the Philippines itself. Here’s a list of local food dishes you definitely have to try.

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The Best Universities in the Philippines

Jane Adamson History, Lifestyle 0 Comment

The University of the Philippines recently made headlines again, this time because the institution earned a spot in the top 500 universities worldwide. The list, made by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2020, covered 1,400 universities from 92 countries around the world. The performance of institutions was measured by the core objectives of teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.

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Areas in the Philippines Most Affected by Natural Disasters

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Last June 2019, PAGASA officially declared the start of the rainy season in the Philippines. Preparing for days, even weeks, of heavy rain is certainly something Filipinos aren’t new to — PAGASA says much of the Philippine climate is characterized by heavy rainfall. With a tropical and maritime climate, rain is something that all regions experience, but to varying degrees. For example, Baguio City, Eastern Samar, and Eastern Surigao usually experience the most amount of rain, while the southern portion of Cotabato experiences the least.

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The Benefits of Nitric Oxide for Climbers

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According to National Geographic, sports climbing is finally making its debut as one of the new sports to be included in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Since the announcement, the global sports climbing community has bustled with excitement. Top athletes have begun training for Olympic spots and the sport itself has started gaining significant media traction. National climbing events all over the world are now shown on television and streamed across different platforms, in the hope that global support for sports climbing continues to grow.

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Why Networking is Absolutely Essential for Startups

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Fortune Magazine reports that nine out of ten startups fail, and this is a truly staggering number.  One of the main reasons why some startups don’t work out is because their concept just isn’t something that has a target market. But suppose you have an excellent idea and a market— how else do you ensure that you’re not doomed for failure?

NPR says that the tech industry has seen young startup companies growing into multi-billion investments within the last few decades. Successful startups like Uber, Spotify, and Airbnb are aptly nicknamed as “unicorns”, companies that are about as difficult to find as the mythical beast.

Techcrunch reports that companies all across the globe are looking for the next best startup to invest a good few million dollars in. In a fast-paced industry, startups adapt different business systems in order to get themselves up and running. This is where networking comes in.

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How Blockchain is Disrupting the Legal Sector

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It goes without saying that technology is one of the biggest changes in society today. Living in the digital age has brought new adjustments to every aspect of our daily lives, from our relationships to the ways we sleep and eat. With every new technological discovery, society has to adjust in different ways.

One of the biggest technological shifts may be happening right now. With the advent of blockchain technology, new frontiers have opened in various fields and systems around the globe. Blockchain is a digital ledger where all transactions are recorded and managed by users across the world, making it fully transparent and independent. Initially used for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the technology is now being applied to different fields. These fields include finance, politics, education, travel and transportation, and even entertainment. For further reading, check out our article on how blockchain technology may have impacted different industries in the Philippines.

While it’s been only a decade since blockchain first burst out into the scene, its impact on society cannot be overstated. Blockchain may be especially important for the legal field in the years to come. When it comes to the law, a layperson’s first impression may be that traditional legal systems are full of bureaucracy and unnecessary paperwork. Now, legal tech experts see the technology as a way to break through the bureaucracy and further streamline the profession. Here are some ways that blockchain has been disrupting the legal sector.

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