Fight Card

On November 1st, 2008, April Coutino and Patti Lee were the first women ever to step inside an STFC cage with Coutino taking home the victory by unanimous decision. Coincidentally enough, 5 years to the day,Monica Flores and Maria Lopez will have the distinguished honor of being the first women to headline an STFC event- STFC Carnage. Houston’s own Monica Flores will be making her professional debut against Maria Lopez out of Austin who is seeking her first professional win. Lopez’s only defeat and fight came on May 31 for LFC when she was defeated via armbar in 46 seconds of the first round against Paulina Granados.

STFC hasn’t had a women’s fight in quite sometime and its refreshing and exciting to see two women not only get a slot in the event but get the top billing. Many have wondered why women from the valley aren’t participating in such a historic event and for that, I have no answers. It could be that the crop of WMMA down here in the valley hasn’t been fully cultivated even with the rising popularity of WMMA. Maybe that’s the reason STFC had to search outside the valley to produce such a historical event. Regardless, it’s going to be an action packed event that the fans in attendance won’t forget anytime soon.

Serving as the co-main event for this historic event is the returning Saul Elizondo taking on David Armas who shocked everyone in attendance by knocking out Luis Vega at the last STFC event in September. The past two events have shown that the those coming in from out of town are here to prove something and they are proving it by taking out some valley favorites. In May at STFC 25, Javier Obregon came in and took DJ Fuentes’ title by split and Armas came in and surprised everybody by defeating Luis Vega. Armas looks to continue his path of destruction on valley fighters as he takes on Elizondo who has been away from the cage for about a year. Ring rust could play a huge part into this fight so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Armas get his hand raise at the end of the contest. Elizondo has warned fans not to go to the concessions for beer and popcorn because it could be a short night for either fighter as both enjoy trading blows.

Also appearing on the card is Miguel Vega(1-0), Luis Vega’s younger brother, who will get his chance to finally fight this year. If you recall, his opponent in September had to drop out of the fight due to weight issues. Vega will be taking on Leroy Martinez(2-2) who is more seasoned in the cage and an aggressive striker that looks to advantage of Vega who last fought in 2012. This will be one fight that will be full of explosive strikes and takedowns- it might even win fight of the night if it lives up to the hype.

Another valley favorite, Andrew Garza(5-4) will be facing Edgar Verdin(2-4) from Pasadena, Texas in a lightweight battle that is sure to fire up and excite the crowd. Garza has never really had a boring fight, after fighting Joshua Trevino twice in the span of 3 months, Garza looks to add another win to his record with a victory over Verdin, but with a nickname like “Manos de Piedra” Verdin isn’t going to be a cakewalk by any means. Here is another fight that will surely excite the crowd and feed those in attendance that love seeing two big boys trade blows and avoid takedowns. It should definitely be a fight that you don’t leave your seat for cause I have a feeling someone will be getting dropped by the 2nd round.

In a fight that I’m eager to see, Victor Martinez(1-2) will take on Cap City’s Mike Lytle(1-3) in a lightweight battle. Martinez is coming off a very impressive showing at the last STFC event where he used cage control and excellent striking to finish his opponent. Martinez’s record is blemished with losses but I believe that his last fight showed he is ready to breakout and become a future STFC champion. With the STFC titles up in the air at the moment, Martinez does have the chance to capture gold- he just has to get through Lytle. Lytle’s last fight came in April 2012 against Joe Rodriguez at STFC 20 in which he was defeated via unanimous decision.

Eduardo Bustillos(1-0) from Mcallen, Texas is back after his submission victory over Manuel Soria this past May to take on another valley prospect, George Powery who is representing Brownsville, Texas and has abs on his abs, is coming off his own submission victory. If I were to take a guess on how this featherweight battle is going to end, I would say this is one fight were the judges will be earning their money.

Opening the night will be the debuting Luke Flores from Mission, Texas going against Laredo’s Yail Eligio(1-1). I have strong feeling this will end up being a good little scrap that will tell the story for the rest of the night.

Tickets

Tickets start from $25 to $75. You can get tickets through Ticketmaster or visit The Mcallen Convention Center (STFC Combat Zone)where you can avoid paying Ticketmaster’s absurd fees.

Weigh-Ins

STFC Girls

As if you needed another reason to attend this historic event, STFC girls will be in attendance. Yeah, buddy!