STFC 25 Results
Official Results and Fight Records After Tonight:
Javier Obregon (6-5) defeated DJ Fuentes (8-8) via split decision to win the STFC featherweight championship.
Danny Salinas (12-5) defeated Jorge Cortez (4-11) via KO at 0:07 of the first round.
Joel Castillo (1-0) defeated Javier Rendon (2-2) via TKO at 1:40 of the second round.
David Salazar (1-2) defeated Clemente Menguito (1-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:49 of the first round.
Donnie Bell (8-2) defeated Abram Torres (3-3) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:12 of the first round.
Roman Hernandez (1-0) defeated George Powery (1-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:13 of the first round.
Eduardo Bustillos (1-0) defeated Manny Soria (0-1) via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:26 of the first round.
Emanuel Garza (1-0) defeated Joey Soto (1-1) via submission (armbar) at 1:39 of the second round.
Derek Perkins (2-0) defeated Jose Serna (0-3) via submission (armbar) at 2:05 of the second round.
The Gotch Special Awards For the Evening:
TGS Fight of the Night: DJ Fuentes vs Javier Obregon
TGS KO of the Night: Danny Salinas knocking out Jorge Cortez
TGS Submission of the Night: Eduardo Bustillos’ guillotine choke over Manny Soria.
Play-By-Play
On May 24th, 2013, STFC offered their latest event at the McAllen Convention Center. After a hiatus of almost two years, DJ Fuentes returned to the promotion to defend his featherweight crown. It would be his fourth STFC title fight, but would it be a successful defense?
Fuentes’ original opponent, Luis Vega, was forced out of the bout due to a rib injury. In his place, Travis Lutter BJJ’s (Dallas) Javier Obregon stepped in and was ready to take on McAllen’s Fuentes.
Only the main event went to the judges scorecards. Fuentes started working a sharp jab. He used three jabs to set up a big right hand that sent Obregon into the cage. However, Obregon recovered very quickly. He threw a headkick at Fuentes but it didn’t have much of an impact. Fuentes returns with a legkick but Obregon returns with a kick of his own. Fuentes missed a spinning heel kick but landed a legkick. Obregon hits a kick to Fuentes’ body. Fuentes pushing and presses Obregon against the cage. In the clinch, Obregon lands a couple of good elbows. After they separate from the clinch, Fuentes lands two good jabs and a right. Obregon hits a sharp kick to Fuentes’ thigh. Obregon busts out a nice combination of a superman punch and headkick. Obregon shoots for a takedown as the first frame comes to an end.
As soon as the second round starts, Fuentes comes out with a teep. Obregon goes back to his legkick after that. They exchange several jabs before Obregon lands a bodykick. Fuentes has his legkick checked but he hits a superman punch and uppercut on Obregon. Fuentes goes for the takedown but they clinch against the cage. On the break, Fuentes lands a knee on Obregon. One of Obregon’s kicks nails Fuentes low, so he gets a time-out to recover. After the restart, Fuentes turns Obregon’s face backwards with a jab and straight right. Obregon comes back with a pair of punches to the body and head. Superman punch and bodykick by Obregon. Another legkick by Obregon on Fuentes. He then rushes in for a takedown but Fuentes scrambles back up. Another scramble ensues and Obregon takes Fuentes’ back. But he doesn’t have the hooks in so the fight winds up coming back up and off the ground. Spinning heel kick to the head by Fuentes. “Come on Vitor Belfort,” screams a fan behind me. Big right by Fuentes sends Obregon stumbling back but he was only hurt for a brief moment. Fuentes hits a jab, Obregon a legkick, and an uppercut by Fuentes to finish the round.
Obregon starts the round off with a legkick. It would be his last bit of offense for a while as Fuentes nails him with an uppercut. That hurt him. And another uppercut. And another. Several hard, brutal uppercuts laid Obregon on his back as Fuentes furiously went for the finish. He attempted brute ground and pound but Obregon managed to survive. Fuentes tried to take his back but Obregon slipped out and took Fuentes down. Off his back, Fuentes tried a triangle and armbar but Obregon escaped. They are now both standing up again, Fuentes lands another uppercut but Obregon counters with a right hand. Fuentes is starting to look tired. Two punches and a bodykick by Obregon. Fuentes tries to push him away with a teep. A spinning kick by Fuentes backfires as Obregon uses that to take him down. Obregon, feeling Aoki-esque, goes for a leglock but just can’t get it. Round ends with both men on the ground.
Round starts with both guys hitting what works well for them here: Fuentes’ jab and Obregon’s legkick. Obregon hits a big right, then shortly follows it up with a combination to the body and head. Fuentes still looks a bit tired, perhaps he expanded too much energy in the early part of the third round. Left hook and legkick land on Fuentes. Fuentes lands multiple jabs, to the head and body, before attempting a headkick that was blocked. Obregon uses a jab, then goes to the body and lands another big punch upstairs. Both guys exchange and land good blows. Obregon hits another legkick. Fuentes gets in a good high kick on Obregon, before hitting two legkicks. A sharp left hook by Fuentes, but it doesn’t stop Obregon from coming back and delivering a legkick. Both guys trade their best offense as Obregon hits a jab and Fuentes lands a legkick. At this point, Fuentes’ nose is bloodied up. Fuentes rushes in with a knee to the body seconds before the timekeepers ring the bell.
The final stanza starts off with Fuentes landing several jabs. Fuentes uses a teep, then hits a headkick. More of the same as Fuentes lands a jab, legkick, and two jabs. But Obregon comes back with a two-punch combination. Obregon goes in and gets a takedown against the cage. Obregon tries to take Fuentes’ back, gets one hook in and lands several punches on Fuentes. Fuentes escapes and takes Obregon’s back. He scissors one of Obregon’s arms but Obregon escapes and lands a good legkick when they get back up. Another jab by Fuentes, but Obregon delivers a very good headkick. He follows that up by landing two good punches. Not to be outdone by Obregon’s kick, Fuentes lands a headkick of his own that scores him a knockdown. Fuentes tries to take his back but doesn’t quite get it. He scissors one of Obregon’s arms and lands a few punches. They scramble and get back up to their feet. Obregon hits two big rights. After Fuentes’ jab, Obregon went for another takedown but it backfires as Fuentes gets on top. Obregon sneaks off to the side and gets his back. He gets one hook in and is now on top of Fuentes. Fuentes’ scrambled out and gets on Obregon’s side, starts landing big punches as the fight comes to an end.
The three judges ruled it as follows: 48-47 for Obregon, 49-46 for Fuentes, and 48-47 for Obregon. The split decision makes Javier Obregon the new STFC featherweight champion.
In the co-main event, it took Danny Salinas only seven seconds to put an end to Jorge Cortez’s night. In his last STFC fight, Salinas was so close to defeating the undefeated BJJ ace Carlos Diego Ferreira. Unfortunately for Salinas, the round came to an end as Ferreira was nearly out of his senses. In the second round, Ferreira took Salinas to the mat and tapped him out. Salinas wasn’t going to let that happen again. The Edinburg native rushed in with a vicious, offensive onslaught that sent Cortez straight to the canvas. A combination of punches was what started it, some strikes on the ground was what ended it at 0:07 of the first round.
The two big heavyweights stepped into the cage. Now residing in McAllen and attending South Texas College, Javier “Osito” Rendon hoped to use his wrestling against the striking ability of Weslaco’s Joel Castillo. In the first round, Rendon used a single-leg takedown to get Castillo down and briefly get mount. Castillo scrambled back up, with Rendon trying his best to take the fight to the mat. Castillo was landing some hard strikes during Rendon’s takedown attempts. During a brief separation, Rendon looked hurt from some hard strikes that Castillo landed on him. But Rendon didn’t let that phase him as he kept working towards a single leg. He again got the takedown, but Castillo got back up to his feet. Castillo then got his takedown, worked some hard ground and pound, but Rendon survived and got back up. Rendon seemed hurt but went back to his wrestling but Castillo defended well enough as the round came to an end. They start up just as they left off. While a double-leg takedown by Rendon took Castillo to the mat, like before, Castillo got back up. After a failed takedown attempt, Castillo started teeing off on Rendon. Going to the head and to the body, Rendon was badly hurt against the cage. After Castillo chained together a long-enough combination of strikes against the cage, the referee stopped the fight. Castillo was awarded the TKO victory at 1:40 on the second round.
Main Event Fight Club’s David Salazar continued the trend of the evening. He took on Harlingen’s Clemente Menguito, and immediately took this featherweight fight to the canvas after a brief clinch. While in Menguito’s guard, he landed some short strikes before landing some more significant strikes. Menguito tried to do a triangle off his back and got powerbombed for his efforts. A second attempt at the triangle saw Salazar flip him over to the front-headlock position and then transition to take his back. Salazar got the rear-naked choke and the referee stopped the fight at 2:49 of the first round after he noticed that Menguito was out cold.
After an MMA hiatus that lasted three years, Edinburg’s Abram Torres returned to the STFC cage. In his first fight back, he took on Dallas’ Donnie Bell. The welterweight fight started off with Bell rushing in for a takedown. Initially, Torres defended well, trying his best to avoid the mat. When it looked like Bell was finally going to get the takedown, Torres pulled guard. Right when some fans were screaming for the fight to be stood up, Bell started unleashing some good ground and pound to get side-control. Then Bell advanced to mount and started hurting Torres badly with ground and pound. Torres panicking, turned over, and Bell sinked his hooks in. Bell slipped his forearm underneath of Torres’ chin, locked a Gable-grip and Torres tapped on the mat. Official time of the stoppage was at 2:12 of the first stanza.
The second lightweight battle of the evening featured a battle of Brownsville vs Edinburg. Roman Hernandez went straight at George Powery for the takedown. That led to an exciting scramble between the two. Another takedown by Hernandez led to him securing the full mount on Powery. Hernandez was working some shoulder thrusts. When Powery tried to escape from his dire predicament, Hernandez took his back and locked in a rear-naked choke. Powery, maybe cause he has too much Brownsville pride, didn’t want to tap out to Hernandez’s choke. Powery went out at the 2:13 mark of the first round, while Hernandez got his arm-raised and the post-fight interview with Rock N Roll James.
It didn’t take long to see who would win between Mexico’s Eduardo Bustillos and Texas’ Manny Soria. Bustillos looked like he wanted to strike but Sorias rushed in for a takedown. While in Bustillos guard, Soria didn’t do much at first. Bustillos attempted a triangle and armbar from off his back but nothing was really close. Sorias starts to throw some strikes on the ground but Bustillos scrambled back up to his feet. Either Soria got hurt from a strike or he slipped. But it didn’t matter to Bustillos as he quickly worked a power-arm-in-guillotine for the tap out win at 2:26 of the first round.
In the heavyweight division, Joey Soto met Emanuel Garza in the second bout of the evening. It looked like Garza was trying to land some significant strikes early on but Soto clinched. Garza, pressed up against the cage, used double underhooks to reverse and put Soto against the cage. Garza then unleashed an impactful judo throw from the clinch. Garza was now in side control, working some short strikes. He attempted a D’Arce choke but it didn’t lead to anything. Garza took Soto’s back as the final seconds of the round expired. In the second round, Garza attempted a takedown but had Soto land on top of him. He scrambled back up, managing to get another impactful takedown on Soto. From half-mount, he advanced to full mount. Soto tried to turn over, Garza attempted to take his back but ended up losing position. But he showed off his guardwork by locking in an armbar on Soto for the finish. Garza got the submission and his first career victory at 1:39 of the second round.
The opening contest featured Jose Serna going up against Derek Perkins. Serna was last seen losing a pair of fights to Andrew Garza in 2010 and 2011. Perkins opened up the contest with a solid legkick. After a feeling out process, Perkins hurt him in an exchange. Serna recovered after clinching against the cage. After struggling against the cage, Serna secured a takedown on Perkins. Serna quickly got the mount, but Perkins started working a kimura from the bottom. Perkins put Serna in his guard and almost kimura swepted him. But Serna defended well, secured the mount again and worked the body with some good punches. Serna took Perkin’s back as the round was coming to an end. In the second round, Perkins opens up with another legkick. Perkins then initiates a clinch against the cage that leads to a low blow. Serna is given some time to recover. When the fight resumes, Serna’s body kick is caught and Perkin takes him down to the mat. Off his back, Serna works an armbar, it looks tight but Perkins lifts him up and powerbombs him to the canvas. But Serna, tenacious and hungry for an arm, goes back to work and gets the armbar again. Perkins is forced to tap out at 2:05 of the second frame.
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