XKO 19 Set For Europa Expo; Event Preview

By TXMMA Staff

2013 Europa Expo To Feature Debut Of Xtreme Knockout MMA Promotion

DALLAS, TX, August 8, 2013 – The 2013 Europa Games Get Fit & Sports Expo is fast-approaching with the mega-event taking place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas on August 16^th and 17^th of this month.

Like always, the event will feature a whole host of health and fitness related events with much of it martial arts related. This includes the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling tournament put on by Fight to Win / World Grappling Circuit along with other competitions featuring judo, wrestling and more.

This year, the 2013 Europa Games Get Fit & Sports Expo will feature something new as well with the entrant of Arlington-based Xtreme Knockout. Run by the Bussey family, the promotion has long been hosting professional MMA events at their Arlington location (The Gym Combative Sports Facility) and is known as one of the longest-running pro MMA events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, having been around since 2008-2009. This latest upcoming XKO event will be their nineteenth show overall and they’re looking to make it one of, if not their best ever.

XKO 19 Preview – What To Watch For at the 2013 Europa Games Get Fit & Sports Expo

XKO 19 will feature the XKO return of defending bantamweight Steven “Ocho” Peterson. With a current record 8-4 overall, Steven fought much of his early bouts for the XKO organization – becoming the promotion’s 135 lbs. champion with a win over Douglas Frey back in April 2011. He defended that belt against Alex Russ a few months later and subsequently went to Legacy, where went 3-2 in 2012-2013. Peterson also fought for Bellator once in that time period, losing to fellow DFW fighter Chris Jones. Looking ahead to XKO 19, Peterson will be taking on Nelson Salas, another Dallas-based fighter with a 4-1 record. Salas was last seen losing a tough decision to now-champion Matt Hobar at LFC 19. With that loss fresh in his mind, Salas will be looking to prove that he too is a championship caliber fighter with a win here against his more experienced opponent.

The co-main event at XKO 19 takes place in the welterweight division with DFW-based Armando Servin taking on Geoffrey Neal in a battle of two up-and-coming fighters. Armando has won three in a row since losing his pro debut to Donnie Bell at XKO 13 while Neal is looking to erase the memory of his first loss as a pro to Martin Sano Jr. this past April so this should be a pivotal bout determining who has the brighter near future between the two.

As for the rest of the card, there are some names in particular to watch out for but the entire card itself looks to be matches really well. In short, this one should produce a lot of exciting, well-balanced fights for returning fans and new MMA watchers alike.

One of these fights is in the women’s bantamweight division where 2011 TXMMA Women’s Fighter of the Year (Amateur) Jade DeHaas makes her pro debut against fellow debut fighter Sabrina Garcia – who enters this fight with some accolades of her own going undefeated at 3-0 as an amateur.

Elsewhere on the card, another award winner returns in 2011 TXMMA amateur fighter of the year winner Stephen Banaszak. The 22 year old will be looking to make it 2-1 as a pro when he takes on Julian Pinales.

Also fighting at XKO 19 will be Dallas MMA 300’s “Transylvanian Vampire” Ciprian Hangan as he takes on Jacob Brannaan and Tristan Grimsley taking on Chris Gutierrez in what should a sleeper for FOTN honors if both fighters live up to potential. Octagon MMA’s Andrew Park also returns facing Jacob Capelli while Moises Diaz takes on Joseph Salas. A planned featherweight bout between Jaime Anaya and Sean Douglas opens the action in the first bout of the night.

Below is the complete card as it stands today.

Xtreme Knockout 19 – Updated Fight Card for August 17, 2013

135 lbs.: Steven Peterson vs Nelson Salas <TITLE>
170 lbs.: Armando Servin vs Geoffrey Neal
135 lbs.: Jade DeHaas vs Sabrina Garcia
205 lbs.: Ciprian Hangan vs Jacob Brannan
145 lbs.: Stephen Banaszak vs Julian Pinales
145 lbs.: Moises Diaz vs Joseph Salas
145 lbs.: Tristan Grimsley vs Chris Gutierrez
170 lbs.: Andrew Parker vs Jacob Capelli
145 lbs.: Jaime Anaya vs Sean Douglas