Anthony Montalvo set for amateur MMA debut May 24th at 559 Fights 105 in Visalia

Born in Kerman, California Anthony Montalvo is a name you will be hearing about in the MMA scene from now on, if you haven't already. If you know anything about wrestling, then you might know the name well.

Montalvo racked up a 184-16 record while at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Ca. He won back to back state titles in 2017-18, helping the Buchanan Bears win three straight State titles in a row. Montalvo then moved onto Oklahoma State University where he earned second team All American honors. An injury would sideline Montalvo for most of the 2021-2022 season's at OSU. He hit the transfer portal, and moved back closer to home in 2023. Montalvo finished up his collegiate wrestling career at Arizona State. Where he made it to the 184 pound championship, helping his team place 4th at the Pac-12 Championship.

Anthony was scheduled to make his amateur MMA debut in January at 559 Fights 103. As the MMA game goes, a last minute opponent change would move the rule set to a combat Jiu Jitsu match. Montalvo would get the fight to the ground quickly where he moved to full mount, and let the open palm strikes go. The ref would step in to stop the fight at 1:48 into the first round. Since there are no gloves required in combat Jiu Jitsu, the slaps that connected. Echoed throughout the Visalia Convention Center. Leaving the fans wondering first, "What was that?". Some MMA fans hadn't been introduced to combat Jiu Jitsu quite yet. So the no glove, open hand strikes caught them off guard but the main question was, "When can we see that guy back in the cage?".

See the fight for yourself in the video below:

Although it wasn't the official MMA debut he wanted, Montalvo was still happy he got to compete in the cage in front of his family and hometown crowd.  Montalvo also sold the most tickets for the event and spoke more about the night and his future with Michael Hernandez of MLH Media.(video below)

Iridium Sports Agency, who manages Montalvo. May have put it best when they took to their social media following the fight posting that their fighter "turned some heads" in his debut. 559 Fights President Jeremy Luchau added,

"Montalvo can be very special. He's someone who is locally grown and has been part of the combat sports community for years."

"I think Montalvo is for sure a guy who turns pro sooner than later and you can see him on the bigger stage sooner than later if he works at it!"

Montalvo will be back in the cage at 559 Fights 106, Friday May 24th 2024 at the Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, Ca. He takes on fellow debuter Daniel Rios from Lemoore, Ca. 559 Fights 105 kicks of the 2-Day MMA event in collaboration with Urijah Faber's A1 Combat.

The card will be headlined by two title fights, when Madera's Abraham Del Toro defends his CAMO State and 559 Fights lightweight titles versus Ochoa Combat Academy's Joey Hanford. While 559 Fights & CAMO State Bantamweight Champion Jose Aguiniga defends his titles versus Bakersfield's Julio Larrave.

Tickets are on sale now at www.eventbrite.com/e/559-fights-105-tickets-852667811377

559 Fights 105 Card:

559 Fights & CAMO State Lightweight Championship (4-1) Abraham Del Toro vs (3-0) Joey Hanford

559 Fights & CAMO State Bantamweight Championship (4-0) Jose Aguiniga vs (5-3) Julio Larrave

(3-1-1) Tyler Saelee vs (4-1) Marc Bibiano

(2-0) Fabian Maldonado vs (1-0) Chris Chapa

(3-0) Adrian Reyes vs (3-1) Ronnie Reyes

(2-0) Joey Sandoval vs (2-0) Moses Contreras

(2-3) Matthew Martinez vs (2-1) Brandon Betancourt

(0-0) Anthony Montalvo vs (0-0) Daniel Rios

(2-2) Paul Furr vs (3-3) Ramon Hernandez

(1-0) Chris Gregg vs (1-0) Jaime Rodriguez

(0-2) Alex Cruz vs (0-2) Jimmy White

(3-4) Dorian Hale vs (3-3) Anthony Shelton

(1-2) Quentin Armstrong vs (2-1) Isaiah Walls

(1-0) Christopher Mendoza vs (1-0) Matthew Vargas

(0-1) Johnny Reyes vs (0-0) Nicholas Sanez

(0-0) Raul Cook Jr vs (0-0) Jiovanny Melendez

for more info visit www.559Fights.com

visit 559 Fights on Facebook@ www.facebook.com/559Fights and On IG@ www.instagram.com/559fights

Keep up with Anthony Montalvo on social media On IG @ www.instagram.com/__anthony32

Visit MLH Media's YouTube page for more great content @ www.youtube.com/@MLHMEDIA

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By: Daniel "Trip" Quintana www.noweakshitever.com