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| Jace Luchau vs Austin Terry, 559 Fights 4 - Chris Ronquillo/FUnews.net |
The road to 559 Fights 100 has been a long one, never easy, and always tested along the way. As the promotion heads around the final stretch to 559 Fights 100, I couldn't think of any better promotion to start with for this, then 559 Fights.
On this day, back in the day in Valley MMA, I go back to 2012 August 18th, which was a Saturday back then. The top songs on Billboard's charts were Goyte talking about somebody that he used to know, and Carly Rae Jepsen telling you to call her maybe? Probably not! I'm going to the fights! 559 Fights 4 that is! That’s right 4! Some of you were still in diapers or not even looking at amateur MMA's direction back then. The event was held at the Kings Fairgrounds in Hanford, Ca, which hosted the first three events when the promotion started in 2012. If you still get confused by numbers not adding up with that 100 count of events, don't trip I’ll explain later. But 559 Fights 4 is actually the promotion's 5th event, why? Because they called one event 559 Fights 3.5 in their debut at the Tulare Fairgrounds where "The Sandman" took on Cameron Ramirez! Don’t know who they are either? Dont trip! I'll explain later.
Back to 559 Fights 4, Saturday night, hot as usual in the Central Valley. Little did we know that things were just getting heated up though. On this night, Team KO's "Eskeleto" Anthony Torres would make his MMA debut. Fresno's Abel Garcia moved his young record to 2-0, may God rest his soul! Team Ochoa was in the house heavy with five fighters on the card, including Hanford's Wilbert Rogers and Lemoore's Alberto Arreola. With all that lined up, the buzz in the air was for the main event. A youth pankration main event involving the eleven year old "Little Pun" Jace Luchau, son of 559 Fights owner Jeremy Luchau.
Early in the night, things didn't go as planned for "Eskeleto" Anthony Torrez in his MMA debut that night. He would move on to become a champion in the organization and a few others before his amateur career was done. Torres finished 9-2 as an amateur before going pro. Abel Garcia would hit a rough patch in MMA after his win at 559 Fights 4. Garcia left us great memories as a pro as well, but also left us way too early altogether. There are even better memories now for the person he was. He is, and will always be missed by the many who knew him, RIP.
Team Ochoa picked up three wins on the night, with Wilbert Rogers picking up his first W. Alberto Arreola made his MMA debut at 559 Fights 4. The Lemoore native went on to become the inaugural 559 Fights featherweight champion. He finished his amateur MMA career at a perfect 12-0.
In the main event the youngsters look like they've been here before, as The "Taft Bad Boy" Austin Terry took on "Little Pun" Jace Luchau. Luchau was able to get the fight to the ground where he kept control in round one. The rules set allowed for only body shots with the competitors wearing headgear during the fight. Amateur MMA was still kind of new, and finding its way to include youngsters that wanted to compete. Nowadays, you will find many youth competitors everywhere in grappling matches, muay thai bouts during MMA events. Terry landed a few leg kicks in the final round of the main event, but "Little Pun's" wrestling was too much. Luchau won the fight by unanimous decision after three rounds, more importantly neither fighter was hurt, and It showed how controlled the sport can be, even with kids when done correctly. Luchau went on to have a decorated wrestling career in high school and is currently still competing in college now.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Back in the day, in Valley MMA. I look forward to doing more of these leading up to 559 Fights 100. I also plan on revisiting some of the old WEC, Gladiator Challenge, The Warriors Cage, Pure Combat, Up and Comers, PFC and TPF events that took place here in our backyard. Thank you for reading!
P.S., "The Sandman'' is Sandor Escobar out of Visalia, Ca who was one of the first amateur champions in the Central Valley for Up and Comers, don't know about Up and Comers? Don’t trip! I'll explain later. Cameron Ramirez is also from Visalia and trained at Elite Team Visalia. The two met at 559 Fights 3.5 and went the distance with Escobar getting the nod. Ramirez would go to the pros fighting at The Warriors Cage in Porterville, Ca. Don't know what The Warriors Cage is!? Don’t trip!....I'll explain later. (check out Escobar vs Ramirez at 559 Fights 3.5 in video below)
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By: Daniel "Trip" Quintana www.noweakshitever.com
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