This is your Colorado MMA News Weekend WrapUp.
It was a busy weekend at the highest level of competition for Colorado MMA fighters as local athletes traveled across the globe to showcase their fighting skills.
LFA 82 took place on Friday Night in Prior Lake, Minnesota, and Nate Smith of Elevation fight team got the weekend’s action started with an excellent performance.
Smith put his undefeated record on the line against the 2-0 Sean Stebbens in a battle of unbeaten flyweights. Smith improved his professional record to 6-0 with an impressive performance, fluidly blending his striking and grappling together, ending the fight with a technical takedown, which followed with a ground and pound from a dominant position.
Pauline “Pita” Macias entered into her strawweight fight at LFA 82 after recently switching gyms to Factory X, and the move paid off.
Macias won her fight by split decision over Peruvian prospect, Dana Grau. Macias utilized her elite-level grappling to outscore Grau after three rounds, picking up her third win under the LFA promotional banner.
Over in Thackerville, Oklahoma, on Friday night, Bellator 239 took place, and two Genesis Fight Team members threw down.
Grant Neal of Genesis fight team entered the bout with a 2-0 pro record, having never tasted defeat in his seven-fight mixed martial arts career.
Neal improved to 3-0 with another dominant MMA performance, showcasing suffocating grappling and heavy ground and pound, ending the fight in the third round after the referee pulled the plug.
In the co-main event, Brandon Girtz put on a show with a great scrap against UFC veteran, Myles Jury. Girtz came up short on the scorecards, losing a 29-28 decision at the end of the three-round affair.
Regardless of the loss, Girtz brought the fight to Jury as promised, and the fight lived up to the hype. Keep an eye out for what’s next from the warrior, Brandon Girtz.
Saturday afternoon, Elevation Fight Team’s Shana “Danger” Dobson traveled to Auckland, New Zealand for UFC Fight Night, where she took on Priscila Cachoeira in a flyweight bout.
Dobson was caught early with a well-placed uppercut that dropped her and saw the ref call an end to the fight in the first round.
This is a good reminder of the hazards involved with fighting in 4 oz gloves. One punch can end the fight early.
Despite the setback, there is no doubt Dobson will be back stronger than ever her next time out. Watch for what’s next from Elevation’s Shana “Danger” Dobson.
New Matchup Announcements:
The undefeated, Noufel El Kasri (4-0 amateur) of Elevation fight team announced that he will be fighting in the King Of Sparta amateur featherweight tournament on March 28th.
El Kasri already holds an SCL featherweight championship belt and now he’ll be looking to add the king of Sparta title to his resume and a new belt to his collection.
UFC strawweight, Tecia “The Tiny Tornado” Torres has been training with Pound 4 Pound fitness ahead of her next fight at UFC Fight Night Columbus, where she will take on Mizuki Inoue.
The 10-5 Torres will be looking to snap a four-fight losing streak when she steps into the cage in Ohio on March 28th to face the 14-5 Inoue. Torres is 6-5 in the UFC with one submission, and Inoue is 1-0 in the promotion, winning by a split decision her last time out. You can watch the fights live on ESPN + with fights starting at 2:00 pm MST.
Chaz Alex of Pariah MMA has announced that he will make his pro debut on April 10th for the Fury FC promotion as they make their return to Denver.
Alex is riding a four-fight win streak going into his pro debut, rocking a 4-1 amateur record overall. Alex won his last bout by 2nd round TKO back in September.
