If you haven’t heard of him yet, you will soon enough. “I am the toughest registered nurse on the planet right now.” said Phillipe Nover after moving on to the semifinals of the Ultimate Fighter show in Spike TV. I must say, it’s hard to dispute that claim.
The great and current UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira described him as a lightweight that punches like a heavyweight. “I have never seen a guy hit as hard as you.” were Big Nog’s words for Phillipe before he went inside the octagon to face the highly touted Dave Kaplan in episode 8 of the Ultimate Fighter show. “When this kid fights, he fights for real!” he added. That’s high praise coming from one of the legends of the mixed martial arts game. Remind you of anyone in particular?
“From what I see in this kid right now, he reminds me of a GSP.” said Dana White, the head honcho of UFC.
Well from what I saw, he reminds me of Manny Pacquiao. No lie… he looks that good.
Born and raised in Brooklyn New York, the 24-year-old Fil-Am ER nurse Nover is as Filipino as it gets. I did say nurse didn’t I? Pardon the stereotype, but there’s more to Phillipe than his choice of profession that juxtaposes him to his Filipino roots. For one, he has that Manny Pacquiao power in his fists. And as much as there have been talks about up and coming Filipino fighters and boxers out there following Pacquiao’s footsteps, I have never been reminded of any fighter of Pacquiao more than Phillipe when Pacquiao first broke into the American boxing scene. This kid Nover is for real. He has the qualities that any fight fan will love and definitely get a lot of Filipinos to follow his career the way Manny Pacquiao caught the Filipino people and the world’s imagination.
I say that, not only because of the way he fights, but also because of the way he conducts himself. Nover is a humble and well spoken guy that does his talking inside the octagon. He is proud of his heritage as shown in the show when he introduced “balut” to his teammates and even displayed a little poster he made in their bathroom that said “Sipag at Tiyaga” written in the colors of the Philippine flag. His fights are always exciting and he really hits like he has brass knuckles hidden in his gloves.
Phillipe has an unblemished MMA record and will be fighting in the semifinals of the Ultimate Fighter to be aired on December 3rd on Spike. I will be interviewing Phillipe this coming week to get his thoughts on his upcoming match, his background and pretty much anything under the sun so watch out for that.
I really have a feeling this guy will be something special. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day you see tens of Filipino flags waiving in a UFC event the way you see them in the most recent Journey world tour and Pacquiao fights the past 7 years. I may sound like I’m putting too much faith and pressure on a relatively unknown Filipino fighter, but I’m sure that’s nothing compared to the pressure an ER presents. With that said, I really believe this guy has what it takes no matter what pressure he gets put under. Hell, he’s an ER nurse and a heck of a mixed martial arts fighter after all.
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