STFC 28 Results!

STFC 28 Results, including their records after tonight:

STFC featherweight champion Javier Obregon (7-8) defeated David Armas (5-10) via submission (armbar) at 4:20 of the third round.

Fabian Saldivar (4-1) defeated Sonny Luque (5-4) via submission (D’Arce choke) at 2:09 of the 1st round.

Amador Ramirez (4-2) defeated Miguel Vega (2-1) via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:33 of the 3rd round.

Orlando Rodriguez (1-0) defeated Julio Villarreal (0-3) via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). 

Adrian Torres (1-1) defeated Luis Davila (0-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:15 of the 1st round.

Jose “Luke” Flores (3-0) defeats George Powery (1-4) via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:17 of the 1st round.

Ricardo Rojas (1-0) defeated Mike Ortiz (1-2) via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 30-27).

TGS Fight of the Night – Amador Ramirez vs Miguel Vega

TGS Submission of the Night – Fabian Saldivar, using a D’arce choke on Sonny Luque

TGS KO of the Night – N/A

The first STFC event of 2014 was headlined by a featherweight championship bout, pitting the promotion’s champion, Dallas’ Javier Obregon against Houston’s David Armas. cloudy day.

armas now just pushing forward on obregon, against the cage. but obregonsneaks to get armas’ back. nice left by armas. as they escape. left hand drops armas. a kick and armas slips, and obregon takes advancga. hits some big punches, but armas recovers and then starts swinging away until obregon gets a takedown. obregon passes his guard and then takes his back. trying rnc but can’t get it. elbow from armas on the bottom. armas defends well from there. round ends.

The championship tilt starts with Obregon and Armas trading some kicks. The champion lands a leg kick, while the challenger hits a head kick. Obregon starts applying some pressure, and pushes Armas against the cage. He manages to get behind Armas, and gets a big slam takedown on the Houston native. From there, he gets side control and takes his back. Armas is able to get back. As they clinch against the cage, Obregon tries a spinning elbow. It appears like it landed. Armas lands a leg kick but Obregon responds with one of his own. Armas blitzes forward, but Obregon pushes him against the cage. Obregon elbows Armas hard while the challenger tries to get a single leg. Armas is tenacious with his takedown attempt,  but Obregon manages to get behind Armas. Armas escapes from that position, and lands a nice left on the champion. The titlist responds with a left of his own that drops Armas. The kid from Houston, gets back up, and slips from a kick attempt. Obregon takes advantage of the situation, and pounces away on Armas. He hits some big punches but Armas recovers, gets up and starts swinging away until Obregon gets a takedown. Obregon passes his guard, and then takes his back. Obregon tries to get the rear-naked choke but can’t cinch it. Armas throws an elbow from the bottom, as Obregon keeps trying to get the hold locked. Armas defends well as the five-minute round comes to an  end.

The second round starts with Armas attempting a spinning head kick. Unfortunately, he slips, and ends up on the ground. Obregon goes after a heel hook, but Armas gets on top. While in Obregon’s full guard, he lands some elbows, but Armas is swept to his back. Obregon, back on top, lands an elbow. Armas slips away, and tries a leglock of his own, but Obregon uses that to briefly take Armas’ back. They both get back up, and Obregon lands a pair of leg kicks. Armas rushes forwards with strikes and Obregon falls back. With Armas on top, Obregon throws up a triangle but he never gets close to securing it. Armas gets half-guard, then side control, before finally getting the mount. Obregon makes him get baack to half guard, then flips him over to get side control for himself. Armas attempts an inverted triangle from the bottom, but all it does is get Obregon into his guard. Obregon lands some good punches, when a scramble leads to him getting behind Armas, to land some good punches. They get back up, but Obregon takes him down again, and the round ends with Armas going for an armbar. 

In the third stanza, Obregon lands a punch to the body, and a leg kick. Armas hits a nice uppercut after swinging away, then moves in to clinch against the cage. Armas starts stomping Obregon’s feet. Obregon takes him down, gets side control, slips in to get mount and then takes his back. Obregon loses that position but lands a hard knee to Armas’ body. Both stand back up. Head kick by Armas, but Obregon gets in a leg kick. Armas starts moving forward when Obregon takes him down. Lands two vicious knees to Armas’ body, and then Obregon starts landing some ground and pound. Armas tries an armbar from the bottom, but Obregon just casually moves to side control. A scramble ensues, and Obregon snatches Armas’ arm. Armas flips over, and Obregon locks in the armbar, to get the submission victory at 4:20 of the third round. 

From my point of view, it looks like Santa Rosa’s Fabian Saldivar can become the next STFC star, like Frank Treviño before him. His opponent, Laredo’s Sonny Luque, tried his best but it was a quick night for Saldivar. The kid from Santa Rosa landed a series of kicks — leg kick, body kick, and a teep — before they clinched against the fence. Luque took him down but Saldivar quickly swepted him to get on top. He worked towards a front-headlock position before Luque took Saldivar down. From there, Saldivar went for a guillotine choke, but he couldn’t get it. Luque tries some ground and pound, but Saldivar trips him up, and gets back on top. From the front headlock position, he locks in a D’Arce choke, forcing Luque to tap out in the first round, at the same series of numbers associated with the the Diaz Brothers — 2:09. 

What was the best fight of the night featured Weslaco’s Amador Ramirez and Brownsville’s Miguel Vega in a great bantamweight bout. The fight begins with a leg kick by Ramirez. Vega moves forward, going after an uppercut, and we see a wild exchange from the two. Both men are landing hard strikes. Ramirez starts to land a good jab on Vega, and follows it up with a right hand. Vega gets a muay thai clinch, throws a knee, and pushes Ramirez against the fence. He tries to get a takedown, but Ramirez responds with a knee. Vega finally gets a trip and side control. However, Ramirez quickly pushes off the cage, and forces the fight back up to its feet. Vega pushes forward, clinching against the fence as the fight ends. 

The second round begins with Ramirez landing a good right and a jab. He’s so quick, and light on his feet. Vega is aggressive, throwing wild swings at Ramirez. Ramirez pushes him back with a teep, and then hits a legkick. Vega comes back landing a few good punches. Ramirez gets in a straight rice, and a sharp combination. Vega rushes forward, and gets the takedown from the clinch. At half-guard, Vega throws a few punches, and as he starts slipping into side control, Ramirez gets back up. Vega pushes him against the cage. While Ramirez throws body shots, Vega manages to take him down again, where the round ends with Vega in side control.

In the third stanza, Ramirez starts throwing first. He lands some jabs, and a leg kick before Vega responds with a body kick. Ramirez goes for an leg kick, and it’s started to look like he has the momentum in his favor. Ramirez gets a quick takedown, but Vega gets back up. When they are up, Ramirez lands a nice jab. Ramirez starts pushing forward, very aggressive, and clinches with Vega. Ramirez backs off, and lands a punch and kick. A few seconds later, Ramirez finds Vega in a position that makes him go for the guillotine choke. One Ramirez felt like it was locked, he fell to his back, with Vega in his guard for the submission victory at 1:33 of the third round.  

A great tribute was done honoring the achievements of fighters who have made a different at STFC. The following fighters were honored with a plaque — Saul Elizondo, Jorge Cortez, Luis Vega, Danny Salinas, Frank Trevino, Andrew Garza, Joseph Patrick Daily, Carlos Diego Ferreira, and Abram Torres.

The fourth fight of the evening was held in the welterweight division, as Mission’s Julio Villarreal competed against McAllen’s Orlando Rodriguez. There wasn’t much action in the first round. Rodriguez pushes Villarreal against the cage, and gets on hook in, as he tried to take his back. After a minute or so, the referee separates them. Villarreal lands a solid body kick, but Rodriguez catches it, and takes Villarreal down. Villarreal tries to lock in a guillotine choke, but that leads to him getting mounted. From on top, Rodriguez lands some good punches as the round finishes.

In the second round, another kick leads to Rodriguez taking Villarreal down. Rodriguez quickly gets the mount. He lands a few punches on a high-mount, before an armbar attempt leads to Villarreal getting on top. From the bottom, Rodriguez tries to lock in a leglock. In a scramble, Villarreal gets behind Rodriguez, and tries to slip in a rear-naked choke. The round ends with Villarreal on Rodriguez’s back.

Rodriguez takes Villarreal again, and gets side control. He transitions to full mount, but Villarreal escapes from the bottom, and tries another rear-naked choke again. Like in the second round,  Villarreal can’t complete the choke, and Rodriguez escapes. Rodriguez moves forward until he gets Villarreal down on the mat. Villarreal keeps his opponent in his guard as the last seconds of the fight expires. Rodriguez wins by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

In lightweight competition, we saw a battle of Pharr vs Edinburg, as Luis Davila battled with Adrian Torres. Both men start by testing out their jabs, when Davila lands a solid legkick that is caught by Torres, who follows up with a big punch that sends his opponent to the canvas. Torres immediately gets on top of Davila, trying to nab the victory with a ground and pound stoppage. Davila, with Torres in his guard, attempts an armbar, but that only assists Torres in passing his guard to side-control. Torres mounts him, then takes his back. Torres lands a few punches before locking in the rear-naked choke. It’s locked in, and it looked like Davila might have tapped out, but it looked odd, so it was unclear. Davila went out cold briefly from the choke, and the fight was stopped at 2:15 of the first round.  

The second fight showcased the skills of lightweight Luke Flores. The Mission native stepped into the cage against Brownsville’s George Powery. Powery rushed in, trying to catch Flores with a surprise takedown. Flores wrapped his arms around Powery’s head, securing a guillotine choke. Flores falls to his back, and Powery taps out, signaling the end of the fight at 17 seconds into the very first round.  Flores has extended his winning streak to three victories.

In the opening bout of the evening, Palmview’s Mike Ortiz took on McAllen’s Ricardo Rojas in flyweight competition. Both men come together, throwing wild strikes at one another. A hard knee lands on Rojas’ body, and Ortiz tries to take him down. Rojas manages to reverse and get on top of Ortiz on the mat. In half-guard, Rojas works at advancing his position, while Ortiz tries to land shots to the body. They get back up briefly, but Rojas takes him down. Ortiz grabs a hold of  a front-facelock, but that only helps Rojas pass guard, and transition seamlessly to an arm-triangle. He works at making the hold tighter as the seconds tick away. It looks like he finally has a good angle on the choke when the bell rings. 

Ortiz starts the round with a big punch, but Rojas presses forward to clinch against the cage with him. Rojas trips him down, and takes his back, where they manage to stay for the remainder of the round. Rojas lands some good punches, slips in a rear-naked choke with a Gable grip, but Ortiz moves towards the hold to escape. But he doesn’t escape from Rojas’ dominant position. Rojas tries again, can’t get it, and toys with the idea of transitioning to mount, before deciding to keep Ortiz’s back. He keeps going for the rear-naked choke before finally locking what appears to be a tight rear-naked choke, with a Gable grip, as the round expires. Saved by the bell, once again. 

The third round starts with Rojas landing some good punches, and Ortiz retaliating with a knee and one good punch. Ortiz manages to take him down from the clinch, and is on top in half-guard. Rojas tries to sneak to the side, to take Ortiz’s back, but couldn’t get that. Rojas manages to get full guard, and Ortiz remains on top, landing some punches, but not enough for referee Jacob Montalvo, who decides there isn’t enough action, and stands them up. As soon as they are up, Rojas lands a monster punch on Ortiz. He pushes him against the cage, where they clinch, and Rojas finds an opening. He starts landing nasty elbows on Ortiz’s head. Rojas tries to take him down, perhaps take his back, but Ortiz winds up on top of Rojas on the groun, in half-guard as the fight comes to an end. Rojas wins by unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 30-27).