Despite a 6-0 record in the promotion, Kyra Batara is no longer with Combate Americas, and is turning her attention to ONE Championship, which she feels could be a good fit for her.
Las Vegas, NV — Kyra Batara has made a name for herself in Las Vegas over the years, a transplant from Oregon turning heads in the MMA hotbed. Signing a deal with Combate Americas on her 21st birthday, Batara (8-4) had a stellar run with the company, and had been expected to face Angela Magana this past April.
Instead, Magana suffered complications from surgery, slipped into a coma, and the bout with Batara was quickly forgotten. A replacement was brought in, but the bout was overshadowed by Magana’s health scare. ‘Mogwai,’ who has fought at atomweight and strawweight, then found herself without a home to fight in, as Combate cut her off a win, she told Cageside Press on Wednesday at the World MMA Awards 2019 in Las Vegas.
“It was really depressing getting cut from Combate. I went 6-0, I was with them since I was 21. I took a seven fight deal with them when I was 21, it was by 21st birthday. I was drunk on a cruise, I was like ‘yeah I’ll fight, I’ll fight.’ I ended up winning that fight, going 6-0 with them, I went all the way to Japan.” The Japan fight she speaks of came outside Combate Americas, a fight for RIZIN Fighting Federation in 2016. “Lost in Japan, but 6-0 under their banner, all Fight of the Nights, finished with an arm-bar my last fight.”
The arm-bar finish came against Magana’s replacement, Francis Hernandez, at Combate 36. It wasn’t enough to keep her in the company, however, despite the perfect record under their banner.
“They didn’t want me anymore, so I took a little break from it. I’ve been getting into pro wrestling, I have my first wrestling show this Friday here in Las Vegas.” That will come under the Future Stars of Wrestling promotion, on a card full of MMA stars. Frank Mir, Tom Lawlor, Dan Severn, and Ryan Couture are all participating. Batara will be facing UFC alum Gina Mazany.
Fear now, however. Kyra Batara is not leaving MMA behind. “Right now I’m looking towards ONE [Championship],” she said, adding that the Asian MMA promotion “is a good option for me.”
“I’m an MMA fighter, MMA is in my blood. I need to reach the top. I told my dad I’m would be number one ranked in the world one day, and that is for sure a dream that’s going to come true.” So the wrestling experiment will, it seems, be temporary.
In the meantime, Batara could be an interesting addition to ONE’s atomweight division, currently topped by champ Angela Lee.
