WESLACO, TX, February 8, 2013 – The next big professional MMA event in the Rio Grande Valley is coming to McAllen in just a few weeks with STFC 22: Bad Blood at the McAllen Convention Center on Friday, February 22nd.
As a five-year anniversary for the Raul Ramos-ran South Texas Fighting Championship (STFC), this show will feature not one, but two championship fights pitting some top regional talents against each other in Francisco Trevino vs. Joseph Daily (welterweight) and Danny Salinas taking on Carlos Ferreira in the lightweight bout.
Certainly stacked at the top of the card but there’s some worthwhile fighters to watch on the undercard as well. We spoke to one of them recently in Joey “The War Machine” Montiel.
A 24 year old prospect out of Progressive Scientific Fighting (PSF) in Weslaco under coach Ruben Rodriguez, TX,Joey has been fighting as an amateur in Southeast Texas since making his debut in June 2009. Amassing a 5-2 record, he’s only now making his pro debut where he’s looking to use all that experience to his advantage.
“My fighter career (as an amateur) gave me lots of experience,” he says. “I started fighting as a featherweight, then went down to bantamweight, and now flyweight. This fight coming up (against Elias Garcia) will be my second time at 125 lbs.”
He says the hardest thing about fighting for him has not so much been the gradual cutting down in weight but the day-to-day grind he experiences in training. “I put my body through hell every time I train. It’s those days when you’re sore and hurting and still go to the gym to give it your all, that’s when the mental strength gets built. And when it’s all said and done, it’s worth all the sacrifice because it makes you a stronger fighter.”
Eager to fight in the valley in front of his valley and friends, Montiel says he approaching these last few weeks before the fight with confidence and excitement.
“I’m fighting Elias Garcia from Weapons at Hand in Corpus Christi. I think he’s a well-rounded fighter but I feel great about this matchup. I’ve been in the gym and not a day has gone by where I haven’t been pushing my limits. I’ve got great training partners preparing me. I see all these fighters going to train with ‘big named gyms’ to get good training or to ‘train with the best”. There is nothing wrong with that but I feel that our gym is one of the best schools in the nation even though we do not have many fighters. It’s not the number of fighters in the gym it’s the quality of them and the teachings by the instructor. I feel like I am barely scratching the surface of my full potential. Every fight and this one in particular with Elias is going to help me with that. I am looking to test him in every way and I am looking to finish him in this fight.”
“I just want to say thank you to the STFC for the opportunity. To everyone who supports me, all my friends, family, and girlfriend who I love very much. To my training partners a big thank you to you guys. To my instructor Ruben Rodriguez, you guys are like family to me. As always thanks to God because with him none of this would be possible, and who has helped me to be the person I am today.”