Mark Magsayo’s quest for a world title took a beating Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) when he was handed a 10-round unanimous decision loss by the undefeated Andres Cortes in their lightweight clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The Mexican-American Cortes immediately buckled down to work, controlling the match with solid skills.

While Magsayo managed to return fire in an effort to steal the bout away, it was too late as Cortes had built enough lead.

The defeat snapped Magsayo’s win streak to five but his desire to be given another shot at the crown was the biggest blow.

Magsayo briefly reigned as world champion a few years back and the latest setback dropped his win-loss-draw record to 29-4-0 with 19 knockouts.

The victory boosted Cortes’ ledger to 27-0-0 with 13 wins inside the distance but most importantly, it greased the path towards bigger fights on the horizon.

Despite losing, the 31-year-old Magsayo swears that his career is far from finished, stressing that he will bounce back to fulfill his dream of becoming a world champion for the second time.

Zuffa Boxing signed Magsayo to a contract last year and he made his debut under the Dana White-owned outfit last April, scoring a stoppage of Feargal McCrory also in Sin City.

Residing in the United States the last five years, Magsayo came into the Cortes showdown ranked highly by the world’s major sanctioning bodies.

Originally from Tagbilaran, Bohol, Magsayo started his colorful career with Tony Aldeguer of Cebu.