Dallas-Fort Worth MMA pros deliver noteworthy performances at XKO 19
DALLAS, TX, August 21, 2013 – XKO 19 happened this past Saturday (August 17th) at the Dallas Convention Center with the event anchoring the MMA offering for this year’s Europa Games Get Fit and Spot Expo put on by Scott Templeton and Vision Star Event Production.
This Xtreme Knockout professional MMA event featured eight bouts of action and was headlined by a bantamweight title defense featuring returning champion Steven “Ocho” Peterson of Octagon MMA defending against a tough challenger in Nelson Salas of TFS.
In the end it was a successful defense for the champion to cap off the evening as he looked much improved and disciplined following his decision to cross-train over at Octagon MMA with Sayif Saud for his primary MMA camps to go along with time spent over at Gracie Gym with longtime trainer Arjan Carlos Moreno and Marcus Neuenschwander. Based on this fight, that decision paid off with a thorough victory.
All the full results from XKO 19 along with fight night awards and pictures are below but here are my top thoughts heading out of the event.
Top Five Thoughts After XKO 19
1 –There’s something in the water over at Octagon MMA – As we just briefly mentioned, Steven Peterson did look a lot better in this fight since moving over to Octagon MMA to train full-time with Coach Sayif Saud and the bevy of 135/145 pound fighters they have over there – including previous opponents Geo Pacurariu and Matt Hobar. With some At only 23 years old and already with 13 fights on his record (9-4), it’ll be interesting to see where Peterson’s career will take him with more time consistently training spent with other top prospects around his size.
2 –Chop Shop MMA is a team to pay attention to as well – Based out of tiny Greenville, TX in North Texas, Rob Stucker and his Chop Shop MMA squad have made some noise in the past, specifically with Stephen Banaszak and Jade De Haas winning top amateur fighter recognition as part of our 2011 TXMMA Awards but aside from that, they’ve largely fought out of state or at Indian reservations or both so news of their exploits haven’t hit the major market cities. All that’s changing recently and XKO 19 was a big indicator of where some of these guys from Greenville can go. Despite Jade De Haas dropping a loss to Sabrina Garcia both Stephen Banaszak and Chris Gutierrez looked great in their wins. “The Fear” (Banaszak) showed no fear against an opponent who came out aggressively from the opening bell in Julian Panales and countered with a perfectly timed knee to put him out. Meanwhile Chris Gutierrez might have been robbed of another ‘KO of the year’ nomination when his win over Tristan Grimsley was ruled a TKO. But that kid looked like a top prospect reminiscent of Longview’s Kevin Aguilar with his win this past weekend in Dallas. Keep an eye on these guys. There’s something in the water over in Greenville too.
3 –Geoffrey Neal is starting to mature and it shows – Looking to rebound from a tough loss to Martin Sano Jr. at 24/7: Enemy of the State this past April, Geoffrey Neal would take on a seasoned opponent in Armando Servin at XKO 19. Performing admirably, Geoff rebounded with a thorough and controlling performance both on the feet and on the ground. More impressively was the consistency of his cardio throughout the three-round workman-like performance as he improved his record to 3-1. Look for some bright things out of this young man in the future.
4 –Women’s MMA has a bright future in Texas – Not having seen them fight live before, I had no idea what to expect from Sabrina Garcia or Jade De Haas who would who face each other in the WMMA featured bout at XKO 19. It turned out to be a quick and dominant performance by Garcia as she showed her strength and grappling acumen to quickly win over her opponent, who for her side didn’t get to show her strengths striking in this one. Sabrina should be a force to watch for in the future. With exciting bouts on tap including Julia Ottolino vs. Sarah Boyd and River Warth vs. Nicole Duffy at the Austin Championship next month it’s clearly evident that the sheer number of talented female fighters is growing which can only bode well for the future of women’s mixed martial arts in Texas.
5 –Dallas MMA is a fun scene to cover – This isn’t necessarily related to the action in the cage but it’s still noteworthy to note that the DFW Fight Community is growing and has a bright future. It was good to see guys like Sean Malone and Seth Fuller (Cage Authority), Juan Angel (UFFL), Don Turnage and Aladin Martinez (TDLR) cageside as well as the rest of the fighters, coaches, and of course the Busseys that were present at XKO. With them holding regular pro events along with the Legacy Fighting Championship and others like Steve Armstrong (Xtreme Fight Club) continuing to do their thing, we can only hope that the MMA footprint in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex continues to grow and grow well into the future.
XKO 19 – TXMMA Fight Night Awards
► Fight of the Night – Steven Peterson vs. Nelson Salas
► Knockout of the Night – Stephen Banaszak (knee)
► Submission of the Night – Jaime Anaya (rear-naked choke)
XKO 19 – Quick Results from August 17, 2013
135 lbs.: Steven Peterson over Nelson Salas by TKO, RD4 <TITLE>
170 lbs.: Geoffrey Neal over Armando Servin by unanimous decision
135 lbs.: Sabrina Garcia over Jade De Haas by TKO (ground and pound), RD1
205 lbs.: Jacob Brannan over Ciprian Hangan by TKO (tap to strikes), RD1
170 lbs.: Andrew Parker over Jacob Capelli by split decision
145 lbs.: Stephen Banaszak over Julian Panales by KO (knee), RD1
145 lbs.: Jaime Anaya beats Sean Douglas by submission (RNC), RD2
145 lbs.: Chris Gutierrez over Tristan Grimsley by TKO (flying knee, strikes), RD2
