Houston MMA Preview: Cage Combat 19 this Friday night

By TXMMA Staff

Gustavo Gomez and Leroy Vasquez headline Cage Combat 19 fight card

HOUSTON, TX – Fresh off their big victories at the last Garcia Promotions amateur event, Gustavo Gomez (GB Champions) and Leroy Vasquez (Paradigm) will now headline Cage Combat 19 this Friday night at the Humble Civic Center. The two face off for the lightweight title currently held by Vasquez. It’s a matchup between two big power punchers and will likely be more of a slugfest vs. a strategic ground battle, definitely a fan friendly affair. And whoever leaves with the belt will likely do so via a violent finish.

The co-main event of the evening features a light heavyweight bout between AJ Hoffman of Gold Team (also cross training with Team Tooke and GB Woodlands) and Danny Bennett of Elite MMA. A co-host for ESPN 97.5’s The Blitz radio show, AJ turned to fighting after initially starting off as a grappler and is looking for his third amateur win compared to 0 losses. Meanwhile Danny Bennett is a bit more of a relative unknown at this point given his 1-0 record. It is worth noting however that he scored a pretty devastating finish just over a minute into the first round of his debut at Cage Combat 18. AJ may have the height, and potentially technical, advantage in this one but it remains to be seen how this will play out given we haven’t seen too much of Mr. Bennett yet.

Prospect litter the rest of the Cage Combat 19 fight card. A few fighters Houston MMA fight fans have seen in the past include 4OZ fighter and resident “Caveman” Craig Grove along with the always enthusiastic Kendrick Hollaway. Also returning is Morgan Oriahi who trains with both Fight Lab and Victor Pozas NOGI BJJ. In addition, former amateur title contender Garvens Brun returns along with the always improving Clarence Brown.

See below for the entire fight card planned for this Friday night:

Cage Combat 19 – Updated Fight Card

• 155 lbs.: Gustavo Gomez (GB Champions) vs. Leroy Vasquez (Paradigm) * TITLE
• 205 lbs.: Danny Bennett (Elite MMA) vs. AJ Hoffman (Gold Team)
• 155 lbs.: Craig Grove (4oz) vs. Alonso Sanchez (Iron Mantis BJJ)
• 170 lbs.: Josh Wilson vs. Antonio Townsley
• 135 lbs.: Reshal Malik (Zion MMA) vs. Mykel Lawson
• 185 lbs.: Edward Gonzales (Fusion) vs. Kendrick Holloway
• 170 lbs.: Morgan Oriahi (The Dark Side/Fight Lab) vs. Michael Rodriguez (SLMMA)
• 135 lbs.: Jonathan Walker (Fusion) vs. Dequette Reed (SLMMA)
• 130 lbs.: Samantha Harris vs. Sha Whittington (Red River BJJ)
• 135 lbs.: Garvens Brun (Kingwood MMA) vs. Shakeem Richardson (Gold Team)
• 145 lbs.: Tony Biernesser (Champions MMA) vs. D’Neareon Seymore
• 185 lbs.: Nick Lengyl vs. Mitch Stockdale (ATT Beaumont)
• 155 lbs.: EJ Turner vs. Clarence Brown
• 160 lbs.: Taylor Farrell vs. Robert Perez (Team Tooke)
• 135 lbs.: Alex Tirado (GB Champions) vs. Jeff Hoppas (4oz)
• 155 lbs.: Jonathan Bacon (Gold Team) vs. Chris Dobbins (Red River BJJ)