Note: Updated Card posted September 24, 2012.
HOUSTON, TX, September 18, 2012 – The next notable event to hit the Houston area later this month will be Garcia Promotions’ Cage Combat 11.
Set for the Humble Civic Center on Friday, September 28th, the latest amateur MMA offering by Eric Garcia and Jace Pitre should deliver another exciting night of fights if the headlining fights are of any indication.
At the top of the card, Hossan Walker makes his long-awaited return to the cage to defend his lightweight title the lightweight title he won in May 2011. Altogether he has won four out of his first five bouts as an amateur, losing only to top prospect-turned law student Craig Gardner – who just so happens to own his a win as a pro against recent Legacy Fighting Championship title winner Jeff Rexroad.
That should provide as an indication for how willing Walker is to fight tough guys. Aside from Gardner, he has faced nothing but tough opponents in his young career. It should be interesting to see how he looks after an over one-year layoff.
In this, his first defense, he’ll be taking on another young but experienced amateur in Kolton Englund.
At 3-3 overall, Kolton doesn’t have quite the pedigree of his champion opponent but he has proven that he’s always game to fight and will no bout be hungry for his second chance at an amateur title. He’s also coming off a TKO win over Ralph Garcia at the Cage Combat 10 so he’s got momentum on his side. We’ll see on September 28th if it’s enough to win him the belt.
As for the rest of the card, there are plenty of other reasons to look forward to it as well.
There’s the Houston MMA return of Team Tooke’s Chris Lopez. He’s currently 4-1 as an amateur and recently moved back to town from his native San Antonio to train and work at Jace Pitre MMA and is looking forward to making some noise in the area once again.
He’ll face a tough test in Mike Alvarez, who just happens to have an identical 4-1 record and has motivations of his own in coming back from his first loss to James Powell at Elite Amateur Combat 3 this past June.
Another one we’re looking forward to is the MMA debut of Isai Cabrera. A blue belt under Vinicius ‘Draculino’ Magalhaes at Gracie Barra Texas, Isai has shown great promise on the BJJ / grappling scene and is looking to translate that success over to the MMA world when he takes on Streamline MMA’s D’Neareon Seymore in his amateur debut.
Aside from those previously mentioned there’s also Paulo Alcozar taking on James ‘Tank’ Gonzales, Eric Thompson, Chris Buffalo Rose, and a whole host of other names as well – including a debuting fighter by the name of Willie Nelson.
And who wouldn’t want to see a guy named Willie Nelson fight on a Houston MMA card?
This is Texas MMA after all.
Here’s the full card as it stands today. More on this card as it draws near.
Cage Combat 11 – Updated Fight Card
1. Victor Lomax (Ground Dwellers) VS. John Ballah (Champions MMA) – 125
2. Julian Rios (One MMA) VS. Ryan Lara (Paragon/FCFA) – 155
3. Francisco Segura (Laredo MMA) VS. Matt Whichard (Kingwood MMA) – 145
4. Willie Nelson (BVMMA) VS. Jonathan Walker (Fusion MMA) – 135
5. Servando Almaraz (GB Westchase) VS. Coltin Boggs (BVMMA) – 135
6. Mario Mancillas (One MMA) VS. Chris Istre (Kingwood MMA) – 180
7. Nicholas Gay (One MMA) VS. Daniel Heffernan (GB Woodlands)– 145
8. Ernest Collins (One MMA) VS. D’Neareon Seymore (Streamline MMA) – 155
9. Sean Jefferson (Paradigm) VS. Chris Jackson (SBA) – 170
10. Chris Rose VS. Joel Garcia (One MMA) – 195
11. Paulo Alcozar VS. James Gonzales (Streamline MMA) – 145
12. Steele West VS. Eric Thompson (Silverback) – 185
13. Ryan Rivera (Paragon/FCFA) VS. David Montemayor (CDM) – 155
14. Hossan Walker (Paradigm) VS. Kolton Englund (Silverback) – 155 Title