San Antonio Fight Night Preview: Fury Fighting Championship 5

By TXMMA Staff // Mike Calimbas

Richard Odoms returns as hometown headliner in latest San Antonio fight card

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Eric Garcia and Jace Pitre return to the San Antonio area this weekend for their latest MMA pro-am card. This time around, Fury Fighting Championship 5 will take place at 210 Kapone’s nightclub located right near downtown. At the time of this writing the card 13 total bouts with 8 of them being professional MMA contests.

Looking at the card in further detail, there are a few bouts in particular worthy of taking note of:

In the Fury FC 5 main event local hero and San Antonio police offer Richard “The Black Eagle” Odoms takes on Houstonian Jeremy “Nightmare” Hardy. Odoms was actually signed to the UFC in July 2014 but was released before ever getting a chance to fight for the promotion. He’s since lost once, by TKO all the way in Vlidovtok, Russia but is looking to correct course in his hometown. He’ll be a highly touted, but much less experienced opponent in Hardy. “Nightmare” has posted a 2-0 record in the pros (with 2 TKO’s) after an amateur career that saw him go 3-1 with 1 title. No doubt Odoms has both the experience advantage in this one. He’ll go into the bout as a big favorite but if Jeremy wins, he’ll be putting the Texas MMA world on notice that he’s in fact one of the top in-state heavyweights to watch in the lone star state. It should be interesting to see how this one actually plays out.

Another bout that looks interesting features another SA-based fighter in Ray “The Judge” Rodriguez taking on former STFC champion Javier Obregon. Ray had somewhat of an acrimonious relationship with MMA to start off the year, retiring after his last loss to DJ Fuentes (January, Bes of the Best 4). He did so to focus on long-term life goals but the call of the cage is strong for those that love to fight and so he’s testing himself again and looking to snap a 2-fight skid. He’ll be facing another fighter looking to get back into the win column in Obregon, who’s lost his last 3. Recent records aside, both these guys do always fight with an exciting style. With both their backs against the wall, it should make for a Fight of the Night candidate.

Elsewhere on the card….

Matt Mooney will look to showcase his grappling prowess against Brandon Ruiz, a legit prospect who started off 3-0 but has lost his last 2 to legit high-level opponents.

30-fight veteran Kyle Keeney takes on someone with a winning record in Juan Torres. This is noteworthy because Keeney has lost his last nine fights in a row. Will this be the time persistence pays off? We’ll see in San Antonio!

Austin’s Garrett “The Deaf Grappler” Scott also makes his pro debut against Gabe Carillo. Scott went 4-1 with a title on the amateur level so it’s time to see how that translates in the pros.

Check out the entire lineup for Fury FC 5 below!

FURY Fighting Championship 5 – Updated Fight Card for April 18, 2015

Professional Bouts

• 265 lbs.: Jeremy Hardy (2-0) vs. Richard Odoms (8-2)
• 140 lbs.: Matt Mooney (1-1) vs. Brandon Ruiz (3-2)
• 155 lbs.: James Gonzales (1-5) vs. Fabio Trindade (2-2)
• 145 lbs.: Travonne Hobbs (3-4) vs. Dimitre Ivy (3-2)
• 265 lbs.: Kyle Keeney (12-18) vs. Juan Torres (3-2)
• 135 lbs.: Ray Rodriguez (5-4) vs. Javier Obregon (7-11)
• 170 lbs.: Garrett Scott (0-0) vs. Gabe Carillo (0-3)
• 135 lbs.: Chris Kuntschick (3-6) vs. Ruben Martinez (1-4)

Amateur Bouts

• 170 lbs.: Jeremy Oluette (1-0) vs. Gregory Sanders (0-1)
• 145 lbs.: Mason Guenther (0-0) vs. Rolando Gomez (1-1)
• 145 lbs.: Steve Martinez (0-1) vs. Carlos Melara (0-0)
• 125 lbs.: Sha Whittington (0-1) vs. Cassandra “KC” Spatz (0-0)
• 125 lbs.: Joshua Dominguez (0-1) vs. Rjay Casper (1-1)