Erik “Goyito” Perez and his family stole the show in Monterrey as several hometown favorites walked away with victories in Combate Americas on Saturday night.
Several weeks after a cancelled bout with John Castaneda, Erik “Goyito” Perez throttled Andres “Doble A Leal” Ayala in the main event in front of his hometown crowd in Monterrey, Mexico. Perez connected several times in the first round on a tough Ayala, but closed the show in the third round when he got a hold of the neck and secured a rear naked choke before the end of the first round.
In a scene that reeked of kayfabe, Perez took the mic after the fight to say that he was retiring from the sport of MMA after claiming that Combate Americas had not delivered on promises that had been made to him. CEO Campbell McLaren was irate but moments later was on his knees pleading with the star of his company. Perez, still wearing his signature luchador mask, declared that he wanted a fight with bantamweight champion José “El Pochito” Alday in Monterrey. After a discussion that involved McLaren, company ambassador Alberto del Rio, and even VP Mike Afromowitz, del Rio took the mic to say that Perez would be receiving his title shot.
Earlier in the night, Perez’s brothers Ivan and Jair recorded victories in their debuts with company. Youngest brother Jair Perez had a successful professional debut in defeating Tino Gilaranz while eldest brother Ivan Perez snapped a three fight losing streak with a win over Daniel Rico.
In featherweight action, Monterrey notice Levy “El Negro” Marroquin bested fellow promotional star José “Froggy” Estrada. In a fight where all three rounds were competitive, Marroquin was able to use a diverse attack on the feet to stay ahead in the first round while Estrada’s aggression seemed to put him ahead in the second. The third round was another tightly pitted frame that saw Marroquin get a brief knockdown as the minutes wound down. Marroquin was awarded the decision with scores of 29-28, 30-27 twice.
Earlier in the evening, Yajaira “Shoko Late” Romo stunned atomweight prospect Irene “La Niña” Cabello Rivera. Romo had recently snapped a three fight losing streak in May but the win over Cabello stands as the biggest of her career. Romo was able to best Cabello for the full fifteen minutes and earned a score of 30-27 from all three judges .
Combate Americas will now be shifting their focus to the Copa Combate one-night tournament on December 07 where eight competitors in the featherweight division will compete for a $100,000 grand prize.
Full Results Below:
