Phillip Deploma Delarmino (born November 9, 1990) is a Filipino Muay Thai fighter who is a gold medalist in the 2021 IFMA World Muaythai Championships.

Early life

A native of Dumangas,

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

, Phillip Delarmino's family lived in poverty. His father worked as

pedicab The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport. It is a type of hatchback tricycle designed to carry passengers on a for-hire basis. It is also known by a variety of other names such as bike taxi, velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, ...

driver until the patriarch became blind due to diabetes. Phillip would resorted to

scavenging Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding ...

as a means to earn money to support his education. He also experienced being a

street urchin Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids or street child; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymak ...

Career

Delarmino would later take up Muay Thai and would be known under the moniker "The Destroyer". He and his sibling would frequent a gymnasium. Due to lack of funds to pay an instructor to teach them, he and his sibling would just watch sessions and would just imitate what they observed. They would join competitions at the local fiesta. His career took off, when he won a national championship at age 16. He and his siblings, Leonard and Agustin would also fight in the

Universal Reality Combat Championship Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) is the first and only professional mixed martial arts promotion based in the Philippines. Its inaugural event was held at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater in Parañaque, Philippines on November 23, 20 ...

(URCC). He became part of the Philippine national team in 2012. His first stint in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games was in the 2013 edition where he finished as a silver medalist. He would take part in the

2014 Asian Beach Games The Fourth Asian Beach Games were held in Phuket Island, Phuket Province, Thailand. The games were originally scheduled for Boracay Island, Aklan, Philippines, but was affected by the OCA's hosting changes. The games were held on the same year o ...

in Thailand where he won another silver. Muay Thai would return to the SEA Games in the 2017 edition. Delarmino joined but was only able to reach the quarterfinals of his event. At the

2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games The 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games ( tk, Ýapyk binalarda we söweş sungaty boýunça V Aziýa oýunlary/Япык биналарда ве сөвеш сунгаты боюнча V Азия оюнлары), which is also counted as the 5t ...

Ashgabat Ashgabat or Asgabat ( tk, Aşgabat, ; fa, عشق‌آباد, translit='Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk ( rus, Полтора́цк, p=pəltɐˈratsk) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lie ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

, Delarmino had another silver medal finish after losing to Chotichanin Kokkrachai in the final. Delarmino would earn a bronze medal at the

2018 IFMA World Muaythai Championships The 2018 IFMA World Muay Thai, Muaythai Championships is the 17th edition of the IFMA World Muaythai Championships. The competition are held from May 10 to May 19, 2019, in Cancún, Mexico. Medal table Overall Elite A Competitive B Medalist ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in a Competitive B event. However, he just ended fifth place in the succeeding 2019 edition held in Thailand. He would return again for the SEA Games in the 2019 edition, his third time. He would win his first-ever SEA Games gold medal in the tournament hosted at home. Delarmino won the gold medal for the 57kgs senior elite male category of the 2021 IFMA World Muaythai Championships in

Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. This is his first-ever world title. In the

2021 SEA Games ) , caption = , host_city = Hanoi and surrounding provinces, Vietnam , nations = 11 , athletes = 5,467 , events = 526 in 40 sports , opening = 12 May 2022 , closing = 23 May 2022 , opened_by = N ...

, which was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Delarmino settled for silver after his opponent Nguyễn Doãn Long was judged to be the winner in the highly disputed match. He would file a successful protest and he was ruled to be the winner after a review. He would compete in the 2021 World Games in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

after qualifying through his feat in the Muaythai Championships. However he failed to secure at least a podium finish after losing to Vladislav Mykytas of Ukraine in his opening match. He would be the first-ever Filipino to be nominated for the 2021 World Games Athletic of the Year, an honor that would be bestowed to India's P. R. Sreejesh. Delarmino would compete again in the Southeast Asian Games' 2023 edition in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

, this time in kun bokator. He settled for bronze in the men's combat 60kg category.

Personal life

Delarmino is an enlisted personnel for the Philippine Navy and have the rank of Seaman 2nd Class as of June 2022. He is also a

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

practitioner, competing for the navy under the said discipline.

References

External links

Universal Profile
– International Federation of Muaythai Associations {{DEFAULTSORT:Delarmino, Phillip Sportspeople from Iloilo Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games Competitors at the 2017 SEA Games Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games Competitors at the 2021 SEA Games Competitors at the 2023 SEA Games SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games silver medalists for the Philippines SEA Games bronze medalists for the Philippines World Games Muay Thai practitioners Filipino Muay Thai practitioners 1990 births Living people Philippine Navy personnel Filipino male mixed martial artists