Lemoore's Ochoa Combat Academy ready for war at 559 Fights 105 & A1 Combat 21 in Visalia

It is fight week in the Central Valley! 559 Fights is back to kick off the two night MMA event in collaboration with Urijah Faber's A1 Combat, taking place from the Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, Ca. Starting with 559 Fights 105 Friday May 24th, 2024. The card is headlined by a couple of title fights with the 559 Fights & CAMO State Lightweight Championship on the line in the main event.

Lemoore's Ochoa Combat Academy led by Jacob Jeff will be busy this weekend with four fighters competing. On Friday at 559 Fights 105 the team will look to add the 559 Fights and CAMO State Lightweight titles to their trophy case, when undefeated Joey Hanford takes on the current champ in the main event. Also on the card at 559 Fights 105 representing Ochoa Combat Academy is (3-1) Ronnie Reyes and (1-0) Matthew Vargas. While former 559 Fights Champion Gabriel Reyes is scheduled to make his professional debut at A1 Combat 21 on Saturday May 25th.

Fighting out of Lemoore California, training and representing the Ochoa Combat Academy, and with a name like Joey Hanford. You would think the undefeated 6'2" lightweight title challenger was a Central Valley home grown kid. Joey Hanford is actually from Pennsylvania where he graduated from Warrior Run High School in Turbotville, PA. We connected with Hanford prior to his title fight at 559 Fights 105, where  I asked how he got into the sport of MMA? Hanford replied,

"I wrestled my entire life. That and the movie Never Back Down is what led me into MMA. I’ve wrestled for about 20 years and I’ve been training everything else for about 4 years."

Hanford, who says his favorite fighter is Jon "Bones" Jones holds a 3-0 amateur MMA record and is under the tutelage of Jacob Jeff and the Ochoa Combat Academy in Lemoore California. I asked Hanford how he ran into Jacob Jeff and the crew?

"I was new to the area and trying out gyms and I met Jacob before his official gym opened. I clicked with his training style so that’s where I stayed."

Said Hanford, who will be fighting for the CAMO State and 559 Fights Lightweight Championship when he takes on current champion Abraham Del Toro Friday night at the Visalia Convention Center. As far as how training camp has been and how he feels about the upcoming title opportunity. Hanford stated,

"Preparation has been the same as every other fight. I’m excited for the chance to get a state title before making the move to pro."

Hanford is 3-0 with 559 Fights and has made it aware that this will be his last amateur fight before he makes the jump to the pro's. He picked up a win almost every way possible so far with a submission, TKO, and went the distance to get the unanimous decision win in his last fight at 559 Fights 103 in January. When asked about his time at 559 Fights and his future in the sport moving forward? Hanford replied,

"Man I love 559 Fights, Jeremy puts on a great show and I genuinely love going to the fights even as a spectator. This is my last amateur fight, so my last goal is to win the state and 559 title. I’m going pro after this, I plan to fight at A1 Combat to start off."

Hanford finished by thanking his supporters by saying,

"As always thank you to my lord and savior Jesus Christ I do all things through him. Thank you to my coaches at OCA Jacob Jeff and Medo Moralas, thank you to Kru Farrand over at OKG 559 and Marcio over at West Hills wrestling. Thank you to my sponsors Shifter crew and Conquest Tactical and also my wife Ashlynn. You can expect me to come out and fight my fight."

Joey Hanford will take on current 559 Fights and CAMO State Lightweight Champion (4-1) Abraham De Toro out of Madera Martial Arts in the main event of 559 Fights 105.

Photo by Shannon Newton/559Fights

(3-1) Ronnie Reyes will look to get back in title contention when he takes on (3-0) Adrian Reyes Sarmiento out of The Chute in Bakersfield.

Photo by Isaiah Torres/559Fights

(1-0) Matthew Vargas out of Hanford will take on Avenal's (1-0) Christopher Mendoza in a bantamweight match up.

Photo by Shannon Newton/559Fights

The next night at A1 Combat 21 Gabriel Reyes will make his pro debut versus Tulare's Bryce Gonzales.

559 Fights 105 Del Toro vs Hanford goes down Friday, May 24th 2024 from the Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, Ca. Tickets available 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 (3-6) Jordan Irizarry

(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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A1 Combat 21 goes down Saturday, May 25th 2024 from the Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, Ca. Tickets available now at www.eventbrite.com/e/urijah-fabers-a1-combat-21-faber-vs-tickets-853203573857

A1 Combat 21 Card:

Combat Jiu Jitsu Main Event Urijah Faber vs Jeff Glover

A1 Combat Lightweight Championship (4-1) Christian Avalos vs (5-2) Justin Cornell

(8-3) Chris Gonzalez vs (13-6) Chris Padilla

(4-1) Jaleon Alston Reid vs (7-2) Chris Mecate

(2-0) Shane Christie vs (2-1) Kohl Laren

(1-1) Joshua Dim vs (3-2) Nick Fishback

(2-2) Salvatore Bruno vs (0-0) Shane Collins

(0-1-1) Enoch McCottrell vs (10-13) Sukshith Satish Gowda

(0-0) Chris Paez vs (0-1) Martine Sandoval

(1-0) Blake Decourcy vs (1-0) Ricardo Vasquez

(0-0) Kenneth Clark vs (0-0) Joaquin Garcia

(0-0) Brian Benavides vs (0-0) Cyrus Povoor

(0-0) Gabriel Reyes vs (0-0) Bryce Gonzales

for more info visit www.559Fights.com

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

Check out A1 Combat at www.a1combat.com Also follow them on IG@ www.instagram.com/a1_combat

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

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