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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
Urijah Faber's A1 Combat was back in Visalia California on Saturday, May 25th 2024. For Day-2 of the 2-Day MMA event at the Visalia Convention Center. A1 Combat 21 was headlined by "The California" Kid himself with Parlier's Christian Avalos defending his A1 Combat Lightweight title in the co main event.
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber celebrates his birthday a bit different then most. Faber has made it a new yearly tradition to compete around his birthday. This year "The California" Kid chose to gift himself a late Birthday present and compete in A1 Combat's first ever Combat Jiu Jitsu match. Faber took on Jiu Jitsu ace Jeff Glover in the main event of A 1 Combat 21, where he took the fight to the ground early landing some opened hand strikes. This rule set was established so Jiu Jitsu only players and MMA fighters could meet in the middle to decide who had the better technique when open hand strikes are allowed on the ground. Faber used the open hand strikes to eventually set up a rear naked choke that forced Glover to tap at 7:33 in the match.
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
"We want to start doing Combat Jiu Jitsu matches, as soon I as put this together. I got a slew of people hitting me up. From my past fighters that fought, high level wrestlers and Jiu Jitsu players. There is a real demand for this. I want to give props to Eddie Bravo for being a guy that's always thinking forward in the sport not in just Jiu Jitsu but MMA in general. So I want to sit down with him and get a couple different rule sets. Because my objective is for Combat Jiu Jitsu to really prep people for MMA. The Combat Jiu Jitsu and World Championships are just a little bit different, I'd love to come together and get some unison." Said Faber following his win at A1 Combat 21.
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
Parlier's Christian "Land Shark" Avalos defended his A1 Combat Lightweight title, keeping the belt in the Central Valley with a impressive win over the 209's Justin Cornell. In the co main event. The "Land Shark" attacked immediately taking the fight to the ground where he nearly finished the fight with a rear naked choke early. Cornell would escape but Avalos started landing some damaging ground and pound, opening up a cut on Cornell's right eye with some elbows in round one. Avalos continued in round two with the ground game. Cornell would attempt a few arm bars but came up short. Avalos also found more success on the feet landing some nice combos as the fight went into round three. Avalos started popping the left jab and setting up nice combos with his head movement. Cornell looked confused, seemingly waiting for a take down attempt but Avalos decided it was time to stand and bang. Avalos chopped away with some kicks to the leg of Cornell, then landed a stiff jab that put a grin on Cornell's face. Another one, two combo rocks Cornell's head back. Cornell proved to be tough but could only take so much as a left hook would put Cornell down and out at 3:44 in round 3. Dethrone MMA's Christian "Land Shark" Avalos wins by knockout, retaining his title and moving his pro record to 5-1.
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
"I wanted to show that I'm not just a fucking grappler, I'm a full martial artist. I wanted a ko, this was the perfect opponent to strike and bang with and I'm glad that he didn't give up on the ground man, Good fight. I felt pretty great and I wanted to get this experience inside the cage. Just keep moving up in rankings, you know I got to get more experience and more experience from here. So that's what I wanted. A three round war, I wanted to get my white shorts all full of blood." Said Avalos after the win, as far as to what's next he stated,
"I don't know? You tell me, how does that look? Maybe I defend this title for A1 or maybe I go to the contender series. That's not up to me that's up to God's faith but I'm here to keep fighting, keep defending. As long as I'm here were going to keep going up! Until Dana White decides to give me a call, I'll be right here defending this title until I could vacate it and move on."
Jaleon Alston and Chris Mecate go the distance in their feature featherweight bout. After three rounds of "action packed action" the judges "tallied their 10's and 9's", scoring the fight (30-27) across the board for the All American wrestler Chris Mecate. Who moves his professional record to 9-2 in his A1 Combat debut.
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
Shane Collins defeats Salvatore Bruno in the final seconds of the second round. Landing a uppercut to the body followed by a right hand that sent Bruno down just before the bell sounded at 4:59 in round 2.
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
Enoch McCottrell picked up his first win as a professional defeating Satish Gowda. McCottrell took the fight to the ground where he worked from full mount. Gowda turned to escape giving up his back and McCottrell locked up a rear choke that put Gowda to sleep at 4:42 in round 1.
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
Dethrone MMA's Chris Paez made a successful pro MMA debut in the opening bout of the main card of A1 Combat 21. Paez took on Porterville's Martine Sandoval in a re match from their amateur days. Great wrestling and jiu jitsu displayed by both fighters early on with Paez securing a rear naked choke that forced the tap at 3:58 in round 1.
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
Porterville's Brian "Bizkit" Benavides defeats Cyrus Povoor in his pro debut by unanimous decision. Judges scored the fight (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
Tulare's Bryce Gonzales defeats Gabriel Reyes by tko landing a flying knee that put Reyes down. Gonzales followed up with some more punches until the referee stopped the fight at 1:52 in round 1.
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| Photo by Rick V/Boxing Vitals |
Joaquin Garcia defeats Kenneth Clark by submission taking the fight to the ground. Where he was able to find a rear naked choke that ended the fight at :57 seconds into round 1.
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