Ang local battle rap organizer at Philippine hip hop icon Mike Swift ay kinailangan ng tulong upang panatilihin ang tension sa kanyang event sa ‘Sunugan.’
Kaya naman naghanap siya ng tulong mula sa kanyang kaibigan na kayang kontrolin ang sitwasyon - ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon “The Truth” Vera at sinagot naman siya agad nito.
“I’m glad he did cause I felt that the energy of the night might be too strong since I’m the only one there in stage,” sabi ni Swift.
“I got him to say yes, we did it, when the match comes (on Youtube) you’re gonna see why I needed him,” dagdag niya.
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Ang main event ng gabi ay ang laban sa pagitan ni Pricetagg – isa sa pinakakilala sa local battle scene – at si Makagago, isang self-professed internet troll na hindi pa nakakapag-perform sa isang battle rap arena.
Sa lahat ng trashtalk at maiinit na komento sa pagitan nilang dalawa bago pa man magsimula ang battle, alam ni Swift na kailangan niya ng tulong.
Sa una ay mahirap ibenta ang ideya ng battle rap kay Ver, lalo na at kilala ang ganitong event sa pagiging bulgar at nakasasakit ng damdamin kahit pa sa mga taong malalakas ang loob.
Pero tulad ng mixed martial arts dati, mga sabi-sabi lang ang mga iyon at hindi nirerepresenta ang totoong kultura nito. Dahil sa gumagandang pagtingin sa mixed martial arts, salamat sa mga stakeholders tulad ng ONE Championship, umaasa si Swift na mangyayari din iyon sa battle rap.
“It wasn’t easy to get him there, cause he has management now and of course, he wouldn’t want to be a part of something that kind of like smudge his image, but basically, I told him you got to look at it as something positive,” sabi ni Swift.
“The way I explained to Brandon, I compared it to a main event ‘bout, a ONE Championship main event. It’s a novelty match-up but it’s a dream match-up and I got to convince him to be a part of it,” dagdag niya.
Kasama si Makagago papunta sa backstage matapos ang laban nila, isang sucker punch mula sa isang local rapper ang nakalusot at tinamaan si Vera sa kabila ng mahigpit niyang security sa venue.
“Even though he was there and all the security, a punch still got through. But he mediated to the best of his ability, all the way down to the end where there was a skirmish,” sabi ni Swift.
“Definitely, it would have been worse. If Brandon wasn’t there, the energy would have been too strong for anyone to stop, it could have been a riot. So having Brandon there definitely helped ease that tension.”
