WHEN Pinoys would pay P10,000 per plate just to watch two largely unknown men slug it out onstage, as in last weekend?s fullhouse Black Tie Brawl in a Manila five-star hotel, you just know the mixed martial arts (MMA) craze has entered high-society hipness.

On Monday afternoon, however, this full-contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques ?from a mixture of martial arts traditions to boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu?began to work its way into the other end of social spectrum: the Pinoy masa consciousness.

The teleserye ?Pieta,? which began its run on ABS-CBN, is the TV incarnation of Carlo Caparas? komiks-born tale of a mother?s unconditional love for her thug of a son.

Playing the thug, reprising the character Ace Vergel popularized in the movie version, is Ryan Agoncillo, who might strike you more as a geek than a street basagulero. But it is the 29-year-old TV celeb himself who brought the mixed martial arts idea into the project.

Ineffective

Agoncillo, who was in the taekwondo team in high school and has trained in street fighting over the years, has been a Brazilian jiu-jitsu student for some time now.

What got him into it was a ?friendly? match that pitted him against an opponent who was already into the sport.

?He was my height and less experienced but it ended in a draw. I was so educated by that one match. All along, I thought I knew striking, how to throw a kick, a punch, but all that was ineffective in a no-holds barred fight,? the actor recalls.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA lend themselves easily to ?no-holds-barred? fights, the kind that happens in real life, and which ?Pieta? will have a lot of.

?There are no circular walloping, no unreal movements,? says Johnar Salao, also an MMA student training Agoncillo on the set. The moves are a far cry from the FPJ-Erap trademark bugbugan, or choreographed taekwondo moves.

?A real fight is ugly, although we try hard to make it more interesting visually,? says Richard Lasprilla, a URCC fighter.

What drew Agoncillo to Brazilian jiu-jitsu is the tremendous mind game involved. And the silence.

?It looked to me like body chess,? says the actor. ?Almost to the point [where] you see the fighters concentrating, closing their eyes, none of the sigaw, grunts, groans. All just little chucking for that bit of position, that little opening. The intricacies of the movement, the muscle memory involved. Tahimik, all you hear is the rustling of the gi (the uniform), all you hear is the positioning on the mat. Next thing you know someone is tapping out.?

Sport of the moment

It was perfect timing that the people behind ?Pieta? had agreed to Agoncillo?s idea of tapping MMA. Next to boxing, it is proving to be the sport of the moment.

MMA gyms are sprouting all over; yesterday, the sport?s figurehead Alvin Aguilar opened the first MMA center in Sucat. UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champion), the biggest MMA promotion in the world, will stage an event here next year.

UFC star fighters Brandon Vera and Chuck Lidell?s recent visits to Manila drew thousands in local malls.

What explains the popularity? Lasprilla says its because Pinoys have always been into combat games, from arnis to boxing to sabong. ?We like to see a good fight.?

Agoncillo looks at it differently, almost in a boy geek way.

?Chess siya, to go for the kill, there are three steps you must go through quickly or as patiently as you can. I?ve seen some big bad-ass guys taken down by little guys. There are so many ways to overcome physical limitations, using your body as an extension of your thoughts.?

This very quality of MMA is apt where the role of Rigor is concerned. It helps the fact that it is Agoncillo, who?s 5?5? tall, playing the unlikely hero who just couldn?t stand seeing bullies picking on underdogs.

?Sa isang malaking tao, walang laban ang malaking kamay niya na napakalakas kung buong katawan ko yung gagamitin ko. No matter how big he is, I have a chance. So for Rigor to survive in 2008 and be a tough guy on the streets, he must have technique, that?s why I suggested mixed martial arts,? he says.

Regimen

For his action scenes and MMA training, Agoncillo maintains an exercise regimen perfect for wildly busy guys like him who have 24- to 26-hour days (he just finished wrapping up the ?Pinoy Fear Factor? series where he is host).

He does a lot of running and an intense Crossfit program a friend from the US designed for him?a 10- to 15-minute succession of jumping jacks, air squats and pushups done as fast as he can, nonstop.

?Your body gets shocked by the stress, and your heart rate easily shoots up to 170,? Ryan says. ?It?s like military training. It?s a program not to beautify or papogi but to make you fit??hunter-gatherer? kind of fit. You are more agile, light around your toes, hindi ka hihingalin masyado. It works by forcing your body to cope with the burst of energy.?

The intensity of his fitness regimen and the demands of his current role have already manifested in the small cuts and bruises in his hands. But the guy doesn?t seem to mind.

?No serious injury yet except for back pain, but it?s just because I didn?t warm up properly. Wala pa namang nangangailangan ng stitches.?