MDA
01-18-2007, 10:57 AM
Visalia Times Delta article...
Eric "Butterbean" Esch will be highlighting today's sold out Palace Fighting Championship King of the Ring mixed martial arts card.
But there are going to be plenty of local fighters trying to make a name for themselves at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore.
Tulare's Roy Arriola (1-1) will be making somewhat of a homecoming.
Arriola, 34, grew up in Tulare and graduated from Tulare Union High School, but he has been living in Sacramento for the past six years.
Arriola is excited about the prospect of fighting in front of his friends and family.
"I have fought in Porterville [with the Gladiator Challenge circuit] a couple of times but it's nice to have the chance to fight in Lemoore," he said. "It feels good that my family and friends are going to be there. I'm really excited about the fight."
Arriola will be competing in a three-round middleweight bout against Lemoore's Kenn Ento (6-1). Arriola has wanted this fight since last May.
"It's kind of weird because [promoters] called me in May with one week's notice before the fight, but I wasn't at the weight that they wanted me at," Arriola said. "I was 20 pounds off and they wanted me to fight knowing that I wasn't ready. I took it personal and made it a goal to always be ready to fight. In my mind, I thought they were trying to just feed me to [Ento]."
The matchup will feature two different styles of fighting. Arriola likes to stand in the middle of the ring, but Ento's jujitsu background means he wants to take the fight to the mat.
"I'd rather be on my feet and punch than be on the ground and wrestle," said Arriola, who has a wrestling background from high school. "Fans that are educated about the sport appreciate the ground game, but the rest of the fans want to see fighters put it on the line. I try to give fans what they like."
Arriola won't be the only local fighter competing today.
Visalia's Francisco "The Cisco Kid" Magallon (2-3) will take on Parlier's Mike Moreno (0-1) in a welterweight bout, and Tulare's Rafael Del Real (3-4-1) will take on Madera's Rolando Torres (2-2) in a light heavyweight bout.
Both fights will consist of three, three-minute rounds.
Magallon, 27, has been competing in mixed martial arts for three years, and agreed to today's fight with just three week's notice. Because of the short notice, both fighters agreed to fight at 180 pounds instead of 170 pounds.
"I think [Magallon] needs to be in better condition," his manager and trainer Rocky Molina said. "Hopefully for us, the guy he's fighting is in the same dilemma. They had short notice so they agreed to 180 pounds."
Magallon wants to show off his karate, kung fu, kick boxing, wrestling and jujitsu training in front of a home crowd.
"It's about time I get a fight up close," he said. "I don't have to travel anywhere. I've been wanting to fight [in Lemoore] for a while. They put on a good show, and they get a lot of recognition here."
Del Real is familiar with his opponent, and he's glad the event is being staged in a ring rather than a cage.
"In a ring there's a lot more action," he said. "I've trained and fought in a ring before and I feel comfortable a and I'm looking forward to [the fight]. I know Torres and we're cordial to each other. It's going to be a good clean fight. Let the best man win."
The Tachi Palace has held several mixed martial arts events in the past, but this is the first time it will be called the Palace Fighting Championship (PFC).
Before PFC, the World Extreme Cagefighting circuit was held in Lemoore, but WEC was bought out by Ultimate Fighting Championship, the best known mixed martial arts circuit.
After the merger with UFC, WEC decided to move its scheduled fight card from Lemoore to Las Vegas.
According to Molina, when the Tachi's director of entertainment Christian Printup decided to start the PFC he wanted to make some changes to make it identifiably different. Instead of fighting in a cage, the PFC will hold its fights in a ring with four ropes, and instead of having three, five-minute rounds in nontitle fights, he decided to go with three, three-minute rounds.
Printup could not be reached for comment.
Good article, good exposure, but did they have to talk to Hit Boy?
I kind lf laughed at the "Printup could not be reached for comment" sentence.
Eric "Butterbean" Esch will be highlighting today's sold out Palace Fighting Championship King of the Ring mixed martial arts card.
But there are going to be plenty of local fighters trying to make a name for themselves at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore.
Tulare's Roy Arriola (1-1) will be making somewhat of a homecoming.
Arriola, 34, grew up in Tulare and graduated from Tulare Union High School, but he has been living in Sacramento for the past six years.
Arriola is excited about the prospect of fighting in front of his friends and family.
"I have fought in Porterville [with the Gladiator Challenge circuit] a couple of times but it's nice to have the chance to fight in Lemoore," he said. "It feels good that my family and friends are going to be there. I'm really excited about the fight."
Arriola will be competing in a three-round middleweight bout against Lemoore's Kenn Ento (6-1). Arriola has wanted this fight since last May.
"It's kind of weird because [promoters] called me in May with one week's notice before the fight, but I wasn't at the weight that they wanted me at," Arriola said. "I was 20 pounds off and they wanted me to fight knowing that I wasn't ready. I took it personal and made it a goal to always be ready to fight. In my mind, I thought they were trying to just feed me to [Ento]."
The matchup will feature two different styles of fighting. Arriola likes to stand in the middle of the ring, but Ento's jujitsu background means he wants to take the fight to the mat.
"I'd rather be on my feet and punch than be on the ground and wrestle," said Arriola, who has a wrestling background from high school. "Fans that are educated about the sport appreciate the ground game, but the rest of the fans want to see fighters put it on the line. I try to give fans what they like."
Arriola won't be the only local fighter competing today.
Visalia's Francisco "The Cisco Kid" Magallon (2-3) will take on Parlier's Mike Moreno (0-1) in a welterweight bout, and Tulare's Rafael Del Real (3-4-1) will take on Madera's Rolando Torres (2-2) in a light heavyweight bout.
Both fights will consist of three, three-minute rounds.
Magallon, 27, has been competing in mixed martial arts for three years, and agreed to today's fight with just three week's notice. Because of the short notice, both fighters agreed to fight at 180 pounds instead of 170 pounds.
"I think [Magallon] needs to be in better condition," his manager and trainer Rocky Molina said. "Hopefully for us, the guy he's fighting is in the same dilemma. They had short notice so they agreed to 180 pounds."
Magallon wants to show off his karate, kung fu, kick boxing, wrestling and jujitsu training in front of a home crowd.
"It's about time I get a fight up close," he said. "I don't have to travel anywhere. I've been wanting to fight [in Lemoore] for a while. They put on a good show, and they get a lot of recognition here."
Del Real is familiar with his opponent, and he's glad the event is being staged in a ring rather than a cage.
"In a ring there's a lot more action," he said. "I've trained and fought in a ring before and I feel comfortable a and I'm looking forward to [the fight]. I know Torres and we're cordial to each other. It's going to be a good clean fight. Let the best man win."
The Tachi Palace has held several mixed martial arts events in the past, but this is the first time it will be called the Palace Fighting Championship (PFC).
Before PFC, the World Extreme Cagefighting circuit was held in Lemoore, but WEC was bought out by Ultimate Fighting Championship, the best known mixed martial arts circuit.
After the merger with UFC, WEC decided to move its scheduled fight card from Lemoore to Las Vegas.
According to Molina, when the Tachi's director of entertainment Christian Printup decided to start the PFC he wanted to make some changes to make it identifiably different. Instead of fighting in a cage, the PFC will hold its fights in a ring with four ropes, and instead of having three, five-minute rounds in nontitle fights, he decided to go with three, three-minute rounds.
Printup could not be reached for comment.
Good article, good exposure, but did they have to talk to Hit Boy?
I kind lf laughed at the "Printup could not be reached for comment" sentence.