By TXMMA Staff // Mike Calimbas // Cover fighter: Ricky Turcios
Previewing the latest Houston MMA fight card set for this Friday night
HUMBLE, TX – Garcia Promotions returns for their latest mixed martial arts event tomorrow night, May 22nd in Humble. These Houston MMA Friday night fights will feature both professional and amateur bouts with a total of 11 fights set to be featured for local fight fans at the Humble Civic Center.
Looking at card in further detail, there are a few fighters and matchups worthy of note for Fury Fighting Championship 6:
At the top of the card, DFW’s Tristan Grimsley (out of Team Mohler) travels to Houston to take on emerging prospect Ricky Turcios (GB Woodlands). Grimsley really came on in his last fight, besting a more highly touted George Pacurariu by split decision at Legacy FC 38. He’ll be going for 3 in a row in Humble and has momentum on his side with a victory here seriously putting him on the board as a top Texas state prospect primed for national exposure. Standing across from him, 21 year old Ricky Turcios will be lesser on experience and yet he hasn’t lost yet as a pro, winning his first 3 after going 4-1 as an amateur.
Stylistically, this main event is an intriguing one with both fighters exhibiting competent striking skills while also being well-versed in both the wrestling and jiujitsu aspects of MMA. They’re also of similar build and stature so unless Grimsley’s experience is truly insurmountable, fans should be looking at a close, exciting fight.
Next up is another exciting “grudge match” of sorts between undefeated Chris Lopez and his former Team Tooke teammate Levi West. Note that these guys probably don’t have any actual grudge of sorts but it is interesting that they used to train together, so the grudge match label is definitely more for the fans.
Currently, Chris Lopez splits his time primarily between Houston (Tooke), San Antonio (RPBJJ, etc.) and Dallas (Octagon MMA). Fully committed to making a success for himself in MMA, Chris devotes the bulk of his time to his craft. Undefeated at 29 years old with 2 KO/TKO’s on his record, he’s a hard hitter and has continued to improve. Meanwhile, 23 year old Levi West has moved over to 4OZ Fight Club after starting with Team Tooke years ago. A former Golden Gloves boxer, West has always been talented but has struggled out of the gate with 2 losses as a pro after going 6-1 as an amateur. It’s also worthy of note that his last fight was almost 3 years ago so he’s had his own chances to improve since then. It’s possible that fans could be seeing a totally complete different fighter come Friday night. Once thing for sure though is that this matchup should be another exciting one – and potentially the one the crowd will be most looking forward to come fight night when it comes to these two southpaws.
Elsewhere on the card, Sage Northcutt steps out of Legacy FC for the very first time as a pro to take on Devin Christopherson. The TAMU engineering student is arguably one of, if not the brightest prospect in Texas MMA right now with 2 wins to start his pro career, following 5 straight in the amateurs. Short of a major upset, look for him to continue building his career here against another solid journeyman in Devin.
Also returning at Fury FC 6 is former Houston MMA champion Ray Blodget as he takes on Angelo Anzaldua. Ray has been around the block, having faced vets like Rey Trujillo, Daniel Pineda, and Nick Gonzalez earlier in his career. He’s also been a BJJ brown belt for some time so his skillset is significantly more impressive on paper than his opponent. That empirical data dictates this should be an impressive win for him coming back to Texas from California but this shall remain to be seen pending Friday night.
Other fighters of note to wrap up this Fury FC 6 preview include veteran Rocky Long continuing on in his career against fellow strike James “Tank” Gonzales, prospect Adrian Yanez looking to bounce back from his first pro loss against Jake Snyder, and Dominic Rodriguez taking on John Haydon in a bout where somebody’s “0” has to go!
Check out the complete fight card for Fury FC 6 below.
Fury Fighting Championship 6 – Updated Fight Card for May 22, 2015
Professional
- 135 lbs.: Tristan Grimsley (6-4) vs. Ricky Turcios (3-0)
- 170 lbs.: Chris Lopez (4-0) vs. Levi West (0-2)
- 170 lbs.: Sage Northcutt (2-0) vs. Devin Christopherson (2-2)
- 155 lbs.: Ray Blodget (7-3) vs. Angelo (Sonnie) Anzaldua (0-1)
- 155 lbs.: Rocky Long (20-32-1) vs. James Gonzales (1-6)
- 135 lbs.: Adrian Yanez (1-1) vs. Jake Snyder (2-1-1)
- 155 lbs.: Dominic Rodriguez (0-3) vs. John Haydon (0-1)
- 125 lbs.: Randy McCullough (1-0) vs. Daniel Turner (0-0)
Amateur
- 135 lbs.: Steven Vera (2-2) vs. Gustavo Gomez (3-1)
- 135 lbs.: Josh Rodriguez (0-1) vs. Yan Digilov (1-5)
- 185 lbs.: Jared Clark (0-2) vs. David McAdams (0-0)