CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, May 5, 2012 – The opening round of Ultimate Warrior Fighting’s “Tournament of Warriors” took place this past Friday night at the American Bank Center overlooking the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi Bay.
Several thousand fans in attendance and those watching LIVE on Go Fight Live TV were treated to eight fights on the night with the majority of those contests deciding who would advance to the semi-final round of the lightweight and welterweight tournaments scheduled for May 26th at the Laredo Energy Arena in South Texas.
UWF CEO Oscar Enriquez also revealed that the promotion would move back to Corpus Christi for the finals on June 30th to crown the UWF’s first two champions – both of who will receive $25,000 for winning the first tournament of its kind here in the lone star state.
Those moving on to the next round are as follows:
155 – Gilbert Jimenez, Rey Trujillo, Chris Quitiquit, TBD (alternate to replace Hector Munoz)
170 – Lucas Pimenta, Chuck Parmalee, John Malbrough, Justin Guthrie
In addition to the “Tournament of Warriors”, Texas MMA fans were treated to a superfight of sorts as two of South Texas’ top BJJ black belts Hector Munoz and Carlos Diego Ferreira squared off in non-tournament action. Munoz was originally scheduled to compete in the lightweight tourney but had to pull out after some complications (car accident, receiving IV’s) rendered him unable to cut the requisite weight.
Despite taking the bout with the hometown favorite on two-day’ notice, the Mission, TX resident by way of Manaus, Brazil impressed the pundits and silenced the crowd with his dominating performance over the FCFA leader. Diego was on the offensive for the entire duration of the 165-pound catch weight bout, threatening several submission attempts before finally latching on to an armbar that forced the H-Train to tap. With this win, the 2011 TXMMA black belt of the year now moves to 3-0 in his young MMA career. No word on his next appearance yet but after making a statement with this fight, one can only assume that it won’t be long before fans see Carlos Diego Ferreira back in the cage again.
Elsewhere on the card, several other fighters impressed with game performances on the evening, including another Brazilian in Gold Team’s Lucas Pimenta.
Facing UFC veteran Shamar Bailey, the 24-year-old NJ resident wasn’t nearly as well-known as the former Ultimate Fighter contestant but that made no matter as the brawny Brazilian used crisp Chute Boxe style aggressive striking to take control of the fight early. He never gave the wrestler a chance to go for the takedown while moving forward and attacking for the duration of the bout. The end came when a vicious knee by Lucas dropped Bailey. The Brazilian would follow him to the ground with some more vicious punches before referee Kerry Hatley was forced to call a stop to the bout and award the TKO victory to Pimenta.
Other impressive finishes were turned in by Houston’s John Malbrough, San Antonio’s Gilbert “Pitbull” Jimenez, and Stockton, California’s Chris Quitiquit.
First at welterweight, John Malbrough dispatched Larry Hopkins with a tapout due to strikes to move on to the semi-final round of the lightweight bracket. Actually John was already on the way to the semis after Hopkins missed weight by over 8-pounds but the two Houston natives fought anyways. Hopkins started off strong taking John’s back early in the first round but “The Maniac” would stay composed and work his way out before eventually having his turn on his opponent’s back. Once he had Hopkins flattened out, it was only a matter of time before he scored the tap.
Meanwhile at lightweight, Jimenez and Quitiquit both scored rear-naked-choke submission victories but in very different ways.
Gilbert had his hands full with tough Colorado resident Scott Cleve. The two would battle back and forth for three rounds with neither man refusing to back down, always attacking. This relentless pace eventually gave way for the Texan to pull off the victory as his opponent slowed. With this win, Jimenez now moved to 6-5-1 in his career and a chance to make it one more in the W column when he returns to the cage on May 26th.
As for Quitiquit, he too scored an RNC submission victory in his fight with Victor Hernandez but his came much easier as he controlled the standup action early on in the fight before attacking with submissions on the ground. It wasn’t long before he forced the tap and he too will now be moving on the second round of the $25,000 UWF grand prix.
Also moving on with decision victories are Justin Guthrie, Chuck Parmalee, and Rey Trujillo – who should be commended for a very entertaining scrap of a fight with opponent Chris Pecero. That fight wins out TXMMA Fight of the Night. See below for the rest of the results, fight night awards, and linked to all the photos from Corpus Christi.
UWF 2 – Quick Results
Carlos Diego Ferreira over Hector Munoz by submission (RNC), RD1
Gilbert Jimenez over Scott Cleve by submission (RNC), RD3
Chris Quitiquit over Victor Hernandez by submission (guillotine choke), RD1
Rey Trujillo over Chris Pecero by unanimous decision
Justin Guthrie over Jon Knutson by unanimous decision
Chuck Parmalee over Mitch Whitesel by unanimous decision
Lucas Pimenta over Shamar Bailey by TKO (knee), RD1
John Malbrough over Larry Hopkins by submission (punches from back mount), RD1
TXMMA Fight Night Awards
Fight of the Night – Rey Trujillo vs. Chris Pecero
KO/TKO of the Night – Lucas Pimenta
Submission of the Night – Carlos Diego Ferreira
UWF 2 – Photo Galleries
All the photos from the event can be found on our TXMMA Facebook Page.
See the links below and make sure to show your support by liking and sharing our page. Thanks everyone!
► UWF 2 – Weigh-Ins and Sponsor Appearance – here
► UWF 2 – Fight Photos (Part 1 of 2) – here
► UWF 2 – Fight Photos (Part 2 of 2) – here
► UWF 2 – Crowd Shots and After-Party – here