It’s a confirmation that, really, no one needs at this point.
But in an interview with Jocelyn Dimaculangan of PEP, Kiko Matos revealed that, indeed, his much-publicized rift with actor Baron Geisler was staged.
This, after a Facebook post revealed the Baron and Kiko conflict is part of a documentary.
READ: Surprise? Baron Geisler and Kiko Matos fight is part of a documentary
“First of all, it’s a social experiment. When you do an experiment, you have to have unsuspecting victims, especially with a socially relevant issue,” Kiko said, adding the “cause” of everything they did is explained in their documentary.
He added that, “Lahat ng nangyari sa amin ni Baron, only the fight was real.”
(In everything that happened between me and Baron, only the fight was real.)
The fight Kiko is referring to his Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) match with Baron at Valkyrie at The Palace in Taguig City last Jun.
And he does not feel bad that the reveal happened before the premiere of the documentary Beast Mode on Dec 15. Turns out, the people behind the docu already confirmed what everyone was thinking about the rift all along.
“Naglabas kami ng issue sa (isang) magazine noong November. In-explain lahat pero hindi siya na-pick up ng media,” Kiko said.
(We were featured in a magazine last Nov. It was explained there but it was not picked up by the media.)
The docu was indeed featured in the Nov 2016 issue of Rogue Magazine, the one with Charo Santos on the cover.
Titled “Sucker Punch Drunk,” the feature, written by Paolo Enrico Melendez, reveals the people behind the docu as director Manuel Mesina III and writer Mixkaela Villalon.
The article also stated that the project has political undertones, which Melendez describes a “middle child of Aquino apathy and Duterte fanaticism.”
It turns out everything was planned and staged part of the docu: Baron’s fight with the UP film students, Baron and Kiko’s altercation at the bar in Quezon City, and their catchy lines (“Mahal kita, pero bibigwasan kita,” for Baron; “Face me, don’t Facebook me,” for Kiko). Yes, even the use of the term “beast mode” was planned.
What wasn’t fake was the URCC match, although an official mixed martial arts fight was not the initial plan. The original plan, the feature reveals, was to stage their own fight and have an unsanctioned match at UP (presumably, University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City).
READ: ‘Bigwasan Na’? Kiko-Baron match ends in draw and reconciliation
According to the Rogue article, it was determined early on that result of the match won’t be predetermined. Which means, naturally, that Baron and Kiko’s fight was real.
Read the Rogue Magazine feature to know more about the reason for the docu project (the Nov 2016 issue is still available in newsstands).
And wait for the premiere of Beast Mode if all the ruckus was worth, especially for the now-embattled Baron.
