Scheduled for this Saturday, May 26th, the event follows an exciting opening round in Corpus Christi earlier this month that saw the lightweight and welterweight brackets dwindle down from 16 contenders to 8 remaining overall. This Saturday that number with be cut in half again with the semi-final fights deciding who gets to move on to the finals on June 30th to compete for $25,000 in 1st place money and the UWF title belt in each of the two respective weight classes.
Let’s take a look at each bracket so our South Texas MMA fans know what to expect this coming Saturday:
Lightweight Tournament Preview
In the lightweight division, Houston’s Rey Trujillo will be taking on Gilbert “Pitbull” Jimenez on one side while Gold Team’s Flavio “The Legendary” Alvaro moves directly into the semi-finals to take on exciting NorCal fighter Chris Quitiquit.
Aside from Alvaro (who moves in by default as an alternate), the rest of the three semi-finalists each scored impressive performances in the opening round in order to get here with Quitiquit and Jimenez both scoring finishes in their bouts while Trujillo earned his spot by way of a hard-fought decision over Chris Pecero that earned TXMMA Fight of the Night honors.
Looking ahead to Saturday, May 26th, these lightweights should no doubt be putting on a show and it should be exciting one for the fans as all four exhibit a go-for-broke fighting style aimed at delivering exciting finishes.
Lightweight Semi-Finalist Profiles
Rey Trujillo (11-7) – If you follow along with nationally televised MMA such as HDNet’s Friday Night Fights; you might recognize Rey Trujillo from his thrilling superman punch knockout of Brazilian Munil Adriano this past February on LFC 10. Look even further than that and you’ll see a plethora of exciting knockouts in Tru’s career, including a 28-second finish against Jose Santibanez at Strikeforce while they were in his hometown of Houston. Never one to shy away from a fight, Rey’s a picked a big one in the second round against San Antonio’s Gilbert Jimenez.
Gilbert Jimenez (6-4-1) – Ask any Texan what they think if they’ve ever seen Gilbert “Pitbull’ Jimenez fight and they’ll say the same thing – this guy is as relentless as his nickname implies. After taking his first amateur fight against UFC top contender Dustin Poirier back in 2009, the San Antonio native has made it his mission to keep on going against top competition no matter what. Since his pro debut, he’s taken on a who’s who of the Texas fight scene, including UFC 146 contestant Daniel Pineda. “Pitbull” most recently advanced to the second round of the Tournament of Warrriors with an impressive victory over Scott Cleve in Corpus.
Chris Quitiquit (5-1) – With a pedigree that includes training alongside the Diaz brothers, Gilbert Melendez, and others at Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, native Californian Chris Quitiquit had no choice but to get good in a hurry when it comes to developing his MMA career. He won the first four fights of his career before suffering his first loss in September 2010. Taking the better part of the last two years to hone his ever-improving game, the Filipino-Native American came back with a dominant win over Victor Hernandez in round one of the tournament and will look to do it again this weekend.
Flavio Alvaro (14-5) – Known as “The Legendary,” Flavio Alvaro’s US record may show at 14-5 but the truth is that he’s had a lot more experience than that with 47 fights overall (38-9) counting his scraps in his native Brazil. If you think your everyday MMA fighter is tough already, you may want to consider Alvaro as a notch or more above that. He cut his teeth fighting without gloves in “anything goes” vale tudo fights dating back to his days in Rio. Long story short, this dangerous fighter is the real deal. He’ll be looking to prove it in his UWF debut as an alternate stepping into the second round of the tourney in Laredo.
Welterweight Tournament Preview
It’s much of the same in the welterweight division as well with the four fighters that advance on that side of things.
Joining teammate Flavio Alvaro in the semi-finals but at 170 lbs. is Lucas Pimenta. The Brazilian bomber arguably put together the most impressive performance of the opening round with his destruction of UFC veteran Shamar Bailey. He’ll now be taking the extremely experienced Mitchell Whitesel for the right to move on to the finals.
Opposite them will be John “The Maniac” Malbrough who takes on Justiin Guthrie. Malbrough finished Larry Hopkins to get to this point while Guthrie earned his spot in the semis by virtue of a unanimous decision over Jon Knutson.
Middleweights Semi-Finalist Profiles
John Malbrough (3-3) – A native Houstonian, John “Maniac” Malbrough is a 3-year veteran of the pro ranks after a year spent competing as an amateur, where he went 3-1. Fighting primarily for Legacy FC in Houston, John won his first two fights as a pro before dropping 3 consecutive bouts to tough competition in Jonathan Harris, Jake Rosholt, and Jeff Rexroad. He most recently got back on the winning track against Larry Hopkins to move on to the second round of the tourney.
Justin Guthrie (15-4) – A member of the Colorado Fight Factory alongside fellow UWF tourney participant Scott Cleve and Cameron Dollar, Justin has been fighting professionally since 2007. He currently holds a notable win over Bill Abrecht and losses to two Zuffa-experienced fighters in Jesse Forbes and Lumumba Sayers and won against Jonathan Knutson to advance to round 2.
Mitchell Whitesel (17-21) – Fighting out of Ashland, Ohio, Mitch Whitesel has fought professionally since 2003 and has faced numerous tough opponents in his time, including UFC vets Pete Sell, Luigi Fioravanti, Charlie Brenneman, Gerald Harris, and many others. Tough competition aside (and he’s faced a ton of it), Mitch has won more than he’s lost in recent years and will be looking to get back on track with a good showing in the UWF tournament now that he’s back in after Chuck Parmalee (who beat him in the opening round) has had to step away due to undisclosed reasons.
Lucas Pimenta (6-0) – Fighting out of Gold Team based in Newark, NJ, Lucas Pimenta is a one-time Bellator veteran who’s riding a wave of success with five straight wins in the US headed into his UWF debut. Originally raised in the very rough streets of Salvador Bahia, Brazil, the BJJ black belt known as “Baiano” has shown much than an affinity for the ground. In fact, he’s finished all but one of his opponents in the first round via KO/TKO leading up the Tournament of Warriors and continued that streak in round one when he dispatched of UFC veteran Shamar Bailey.
UWF MMA – Undercard Bouts
Several additional undercard bouts complete the UWF 3 card set for Laredo with notable fighters like Sean Spencer, Danny Salinas, Sean Spencer, and more all set to compete.
Here’s the latest fight card we received from tournament promoters as of about a week ago. As always, card is subject to change but we’ll let you know here if any are reported to us.
Ultimate Warrior Fighting MMA – May 26th Fight Card
Reynaldo Trujillo vs. Gilbert Jimenez
Chris Quitiquit vs. Flavio Alvaro
Welterweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Lucas Pimenta vs. Mitchell Whitesel
John Malbrough vs. Justin Guthrie
Non-tournament Undercard
Matthew Hunt vs. Raymond Moreno
Victor Martinez vs. Sonny Luque
Danny Salinas vs. Mike Bronzoulis
Louis Samuel Sims Jr. vs. Hector Munoz