UWF CEO Oscar Enriquez discusses motivations behind putting together “Tournament of Warriors”

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, April 24, 2012 – The commencement of the “Tournament of Warriors”  is rapidly approaching with the city of Corpus Christi playing host to the opening round of the with Ultimate Warrior Fighting MMA sponsored tournament only a week from this Friday. We recently spoke to event organizer and UWF front man Oscar Enriquez about the upcoming show. Based on his feedback, South Texas MMA fans and those watching all over the region should be excited about what his organization will have to offer as the main goal of the tournament is to give a deserving fighter a chance to realize his dream.

“My inspiration for this tournament came from the movie Warrior,” says Enriquez.

For those of you unfamiliar with the 2011 Lionsgate flm by Gavin O’Connor, its premise was that of two brothers entering into a winner-take-all tournament for the biggest prize in the history of the sport. Along the way they had to battle all the typical and atypical challenges life had to offer, with one brother (Tommy) depicted as an ex-Marine haunted by a troublesome past and the other (Brendan) being a public school teacher fighting just to make ends meet.”

Now while this tournament will not be offering the ‘biggest purse in fighting history’ as did the film, the premise is still the same with the tournament’s lifeblood being that of giving the deserving winners at lightweight and welterweight a chance at a significant payday along with the title of the UWF’s first-ever champion in each of the two respective divisions.

Like the movie, Enriquez says he had backstories in mind when he and son Oscar Jr. put the card together. While the lineup has changed some since originally announced (as almost all MMA cards do), the requirements as far as what they were looking for never wavered.

“The main thing I was looking for when putting this thing together was the kind of fighters that have been around. I want guys fighting for us that are talented, have been around, and just need that one big chance to make a name for themselves and earn some big money with their performances. With that in mind, we wanted fighters that have had a minimum of four years fighting professionally, and most importantly, a desire to do something big with their careers by winning this tournament. The main thing I know is that fighters all have a dream to be in the big leagues, but they also have families and a mortgage to pay like you and I do. That’s the type of fighter that deserves a chance.”

With all that in mind, the tournament now consists of 16 fighters looking to make it big, 8 each at lightweight and welterweight respectively. The records vary a great deal in some cases with some distinct favorites in each of the divisions but one thing is common for all – a desire to come out of this thing as the UWF champion and winner of the entire tournament at their weight.

If that desire manifests itself into some great fights, you won’t hear the promoter complaining at all.

“This is the first-ever tournament series event exclusive to the state of Texas,” he says. “What it does for the state and the entire southern region is put us on the map. This is our chance to make history. On May 4^th you’re going to see some of the most exciting fights at a level you never seen before with these fighters. Past records and reputations don’t matter. In two weeks, they either win & go on to the next round in three-weeks or they go home. It’s that simple and I’m excited about to see who will be the last man standing.”

UWFMMA – Lightweight Tournament

Gilbert Jimenez (5-4-1) vs. Scott Cleve (8-2)
Flavio Alvaro (14-5) vs. Chris Quitiquit (4-1)
Rey Trujillo (9-6) vs. Christopher Pecero (4-3)
Victor Hernandez (8-13) vs. Hector Munoz (10-4)

UWFMMA – Welterweight Tournament

Larry Hopkins (3-10) vs. John Malbrough (3-2)
Mitchell Whitesel (19-20) vs. Chuck Parmalee (33-13)
Shamar Bailey (13-6) vs. Lucas Pimenta (14-7)
Justin Gutherie (14-4) vs. Jonathon Knutson (9-4)