Javier Zavala captures amateur lightweight title, Fresno's Perez moves to 4-0 as a pro: Valley Fight Series 16 Recap

Valley Fight Series was back at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California on Saturday September 7th 2024 with VFS 16. A Pro/Am combat card, with bouts in professional and amateur MMA. Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu and more.

Javier Zavala & Blake Marshall, VFS 16 - Boxing Vitals

Tusk MMA went 2-0 on the night and brought the VFS amateur lightweight title home to Visalia when Javier Zavala defeated Anthony Shelton. Owner and head instructor Blake Marshall explained how it went down saying, 

“Javier's fight went exactly how we expected it to go in terms of what Anthony Shelton would bring to the table, we knew he was really scrappy and had a lot of fight experience. Game plan was take the fight wherever we needed to, and that’s exactly why I call Javi “The Taskmaster” because of his ability to adapt to any situation and apply everything he knows, he’s a tactician, and he showed that he could control the fight on the feet or the ground, Javier is a obviously a strong grappler, so I felt like Anthony's game plan was to try to knock us out, Anthony came out pretty hot, Javi ate a couple, fired back, kept composed, set up the takedown and put himself in a position where he was able to close this one out. I think people are going to see we’re a very well rounded gym, if they hadn’t noticed already. I can’t wait to see where we go next with Javier, the dude is an absolute machine in the gym."

Also out of Tusk MMA George Aldaco defeated Enrique Arroyo to move his record to 2-0 as amateur.

“George’s fight was an excellent fight and a showcase of Georges expanding fight IQ. We knew just based on Enrique's build that their game plan was to come out and try to implement striking, especially since they knew that George could wrestle, and didn’t showcase much of his striking in his last fight. Believe it or not, we originally planned to stand more this fight, but the exchanges got a little too wild, and despite fighting at a casino, we aren’t going to gamble away a win. So, we switched the game plan on the fly, and made adjustments to get in safely and securing take down so we could get to work on wearing him down. He was a very strong, and incredibly capable guy no doubt, but at the end of the day, our wrestling and cardio proved to be the deciding factors to secure that win for George. Keep an eye on him, he’s getting better every single day, and he wants this bad.” Said Blake following Aldaco's win. Marshall also added,

"As always, we want to thank our team at Tusk MMA. Our students, our co-owner Brittney Barrientos, who has pushed me to pursue this dream to the fullest. Our wrestling coach Anthony Ramirez, our Jiu Jitsu coaches Michael Martinez and Michael San Nicholas, and of course everyone else that supports us. Also, a huge shoutout to VFS for being another excellent local organization for up and coming talent to showcase their skills.”

AJ Perez, VFS 16 - Boxing Vitals

On the pro MMA side of things, The Concrete Jungle and Team KO's AJ Perez moved his record to 4-0 in the main event of the night. Perez out of Fresno defeated Oakhurst's Josh Miranda by tko after landing a right hand that hurt Miranda. Perez followed up with another punch that put Miranda on the canvas, where Perez landed a few more shots until the referee stopped the fight in round 2. Perez is now the new VFS cruiserweight champion. 

"I felt good heading into the cage and felt even better coming out the cage. It’s always a plus to come out with a finish. Just excited to be able to perform again and put on a show! Look forward to getting back to work and sharpening my tools." Said Perez following his win.

Also from Team KO, Emy Perez returned to the win column defeating Ashley Chavez by submission to earn herself a chance at the women's flyweight title. "Mr. KO" Danny Valdovinos also let us know that their youngster out of Team KO, Gabriel Manriquez defeated Cesar Perez by decision, evening his record to 1-1 in the amateur bantamweight division.

Ochoa Combat Academy's Joey Hanford made a successful pro debut defeating David Mariscal by tko in round 2.

U.B. MMA's Juan Cadavid defeats Richard Sandoval to win the VFS amateur middleweight championship.

Farmersville's Juan Pato Jimenez defended his VFS welterweight Jiu Jitsu title stopping Diego Flores with a rear naked choke that forced the tap.

Sajin Zacarias defeats Collin Stiner by KO :56 seconds in round 1.

In other bouts:

Marcus Troxell defeats Jonathan Del Angel by submission in round 1 of their youth pankration match up.

Andrew Rivera defeats Mike Shaw by split decision in a pro Muay Thai bout.

Ivan Ramos defeats Ivan Avila in a youth Muay Thai bout.

Dominic Escamilla defeats Mariano Hernandez to win the VFS amateur Muay Thai title.

Ernie Martinez defeats Adrian Casillas in a amateur Muay Thai bout.

Ryan Hernandez defeats Donavin Yescas in a youth Muay Thai match.

Madison Robinson defeats Bri Rose in a amateur BJJ bout.

Brandon Young defeats Javier Garcia in a amateur BJJ bout.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the event or catch the online PPV this time, so I'd like to thank the fighters and coaches that reached out to help get some info to us here at Valley Fight News.com So that I could at least get a recap of the event out. I know I am missing some results, so feel free to reach out through email at noweakshitever@gmail so we can add your competitors.

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