Yesterday, Combate Americas announced two changes to the lineup for its much-anticipated, biggest event of the year – the “COPA COMBATE” one-night, eight-man, $100,000 grand prize Mixed Martial Arts featherweight (145 pounds) showdown – as well as the tournament brackets for the event that takes place at Save Mart Center on Friday, Dec. 7.
The second annual “COPA COMBATE” extravaganza airs live in its entirety in English in the U.S. and Canada on DAZN (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT), and live on television in Spanish in the U.S. on both Univision (12 a.m. ET/PT) and Univision Deportes Network (UDN) (12 a.m. ET/9 p.m. PT).
Originally slated for action in a previously announced tournament alternate bout, 26-year-old Joey “El Cazador” Ruquet (6-1), fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA and representing Puerto Rico, has been entered into the main draw of the eight-man tournament where he will replace Uruguay’s Gaston “Tonga” Reyno (7-2, 2 NC), who has been forced to withdraw from the tournament due to staph infection.
In addition, Daniel “El Gallego” Requeijo (14-6) will represent Spain in place of previously announced Zebenzui “El Niño Roca” Ruiz (7-2), after Ruiz was unable to secure a visa to enter the U.S.
The 34-year-old Requeijo, who hails from Spain’s Las Palmas, Canary Islands, boasts a near-93 percent finish rate, earning 13 of his 14 career victories by way of (T)KO or submission.
Also announced today were the official tournament brackets for the “COPA COMBATE”
tournament affair.
On one side of the draw, or “Group A,” Requeijo will square off with Pablo “El Gallo” Villaseca (13-4) of Santiago, Chile, while Alejandro “Gallito” Flores (13-1) of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico will battle undefeated John “Ronin” Bedoya (6-0) of Bogota, Colombia.
On the other side of the draw, or “Group B,” Ruquet will collide with Bruno “Aquiles” Cannetti (7-5) of Buenos Aires, Argentina, while Andres “The Bullet” Quintana (15-2) of Roswell, N.M., USA will face fellow prolific star Marlon “Deriko Siete” Gonzales (13-3-2, 1 NC) of Lima, Peru.
The winners of each quarterfinal stage bout in Group A will meet in semifinal stage action,
while the winners of each quarterfinal stage bout in Group B will do likewise. The two semifinal stage fight winners will face off in the championship showdown with the
$100,000 grand prize at stake.
Replacing Ruquet in one the two tournament alternate bouts will be Vicente “Chento”
Enriquez Marquez (5-5) of Barcelona, Spain. Enriquez Marquez will take on Ruquet’s original, tournament alternate bout opponent “Ruthless” Rudy Morales (5-6) of Las Vegas via Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Announced today as an addition to the “COPA COMBATE” event preliminary bout card was a flyweight (125 pounds) tilt between Paul Elizondo (1-0) of Fresno and Nathan Napolitano (0-0) of Salinas, Calif. USA.
Priced from $30, tickets for “COPA COMBATE” are on sale online at CombateAmericas.com/Tickets and at Ticketmaster.com, as well as at the Save Mart Center box office. Doors at Save Mart Center will open for the event at 5 p.m. PT on December 7, and the first preliminary bout will begin at 6 p.m.
UPDATED “COPA COMBATE” UPDATED FIGHT CARD:
PRELIMINARY BOUT CARD:
Flyweight: Paul Elizondo vs. Nathan Napolitano
Welterweight: Evan Solorio vs. Jimmy Molina
Middleweight: Albert Gonzales vs. James Porter
FEATURED FLYWEIGHT BOUT:
Corina Herrera vs. Maria Paula Buzaglo
“COPA COMBATE” FEATHERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT ALTERNATE BOUTS:
Pablo Sabori vs. Michael Irizarry
Rudy Morales vs. Vicente Marquez Enriquez
“COPA COMBATE” FEATHERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT QUARTERNAL STAGE BOUTS:
Group A:
Daniel Requeijo vs. Pablo Villaseca
Joey Ruquet vs. Bruno Cannetti
Group B
Alejandro Flores vs. John Bedoya
Andres Quintana vs. Marlon Gonzales
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 12/5/2018.