A UFC debut and teammates fighting back to back at UFC 247, HFC 42 featuring two Elevation fighters, and new local matchup announcements. This is your Colorado MMA News Weekend Preview.

  • UFC 247 goes down this weekend in Houston, Texas, and two Factory X teammates will be fighting on the card.

    • Youssef “The Morrocan Devil” Zalal will make his UFC debut as the first fight of the evening on the UFC Fight Pass prelims portion of the Jon Jones vs Dominic Reyes fight card. The 7-2 Zalal will face fellow newcomer, Austin Lingo (7-0) in a clash of young featherweights. Zalal is coming into the fight fresh off of a 1st round flying knee KO win at LFA 79. The Morrocan Devil, just 23 years old, boasts a 100% finish rate with five submissions and 2 KO wins on his resume. This fight has a high likelihood of not going to the judge’s scorecards.

    • Following his teammate Zalal, Jonathan “The Dragon” Martinez (11-2), also of Factory X Muay Thai, will fight in the second bout of the night as he takes on Andre Ewell (15-6) at 135 lbs. Martinez is coming into the bout after a highlight reel KO his last time out as well, finishing the fight in the 3rd round with a perfectly placed knee to the chin of his opponent.

    • Tune in to watch these two young assassins go to work on ufc fight pass, starting at 4:30 pm MST.

  • HFC 42 takes place this Friday, February 7th in Michigan City, Indiana and two mixed martial artists representing Elevation Fight Team will be featured on the card.

    • Lance “The Boogeyman” Wright (4-1) returns to the Hoosier fight club cage to take on Gabriel Mota (3-3) in a middleweight showdown. The Boogeyman has won 3 of his 4 bouts by early finish, all by way of submission.

    • Additionally, Wright’s Elevation Fight Team stablemate, Emma Sojo, will make her amateur MMA debut when she takes on Abbey Ewing (0-1) in a clash of young female flyweights.

    • You can stream all of the fights live on Fite TV starting at 6:00 pm MST.

  • In other local MMA News…

    • Curtis Blaydes of Elevation Fight Team will stay busy while he waits for the UFC heavyweight division contender picture to shake out by competing in a sumo wrestling, round-robin tournament on February 21st that will include UFC veteran, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. The “Sub Stars” event will take place in Miami, Florida.

    • Additionally, JD Hardwick of Easton Muay Thai joined The Prize Fighting Business for a conversation about his incredible martial arts journey that included multiple stints training in Thailand as a sponsored fighter as well as fighting for major promotions like One Championship, Bellator, and Glory Kickboxing. Watch for his interview to drop in the coming days on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts by simply searching; The Prize Fighting Business.

  • And in upcoming local fight action…

    • Colorado Combat Club has announced 2 more bouts for their 5th promotional event, going down on February 29th in Pueblo, Colorado.

      • In a matchup of amateur welterweights, Drew Johnson (0-2) of CU Tuff Buffs will take on the debuting, Kurt Smith of Factory X Muay Thai at 170 lbs.

      • And in an amateur lightweight bout, Brian Eastman (1-4) of Team Iron Lion and UFC Gym Lonetree will face Ronnie Salazar (1-0) of Pariah MMA at 155 lbs.

      • Get your tickets from your favorite fighter on the card.

    • 5280 Muay Thai has also announced a new matchup for their card upcoming on Saturday, March 21st.

    • Allie Readmond of Easton Muay Thai will take on Kathryn Hanjani in an amateur Muay Thai bout.

    • And the following weekend, Sparta has announced they will host their Sparta 81 event, on Saturday, March 28th which will feature a Muay Thai title bout at 205 lbs between Chris Lockhart (9-1) of Easton Muay Thai and Namaja Jokic (4-0) of Train Fight Win.

  • Additionally, in further upcoming local action…

    • Tickets are now on sale for Sparta’s Army vs Marines event taking place on April 25th which will feature an amateur female featherweight title bout between USAF fighter Barb “The Outlaw” Cuellar (4-2) of Cies MMA and the undefeated, #1 contender, Kassandra Alonzo (3-0) of Train Fight Win.

    • Also added to the card is a bout between army veteran, David Payne (1-2) and marine corp veteran, Michael “Bolo” Santos (2-3) of Elevation Fight Team in a professional MMA fight at 145 lbs.

    • The event goes down at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland with first bouts starting at 6:00 pm MST.

  • That’s your Colorado MMA News, Weekend Preview. Go give these fighters a follow and mark your calendars for these big upcoming fights. Then check back on Monday for the results from this weekend’s fight action in our Weekend WrapUp. In the meantime, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, The Prize Fighting Business, follow us on Instagram @ColoradoMMANews, and don’t forget to like us on Facebook. Until next time, I’m your host, Cory Mannion.

    Byline: Colorado MMA News is your home for Colorado Mixed Martial Arts, Muay Thai, & Kickboxing news. Follow us on Instagram @ColoradoMMANews for fresh content daily and stay up to date with the local fight action.