Selma, Calif. – The heavyweights take center stage on Friday the 13 in March.
Unbeaten Larry Gonzales (4-0) of Fresno puts his 559 Fights Heavyweight strap on the line at the Visalia Convention Center against Sacramento’s Jordan Pankey (4-2) in the main event of what’s stacking up to be another big event in Visalia.
“Larry continues to improve and pose problems for heavyweights all over the state,” 559 Fights president Jeremy Luchau said. “But I’ve known Jordan for a long time, and he’s a guy that can pose some legit problems.”
The event will be the first back in Visalia since November of 2019.
And it will be the first to feature a Grappling Tournament.
“Our team has worked really hard this last year to establish a grappling presence in the Valley and we’ve tweaked the rules and we’ve seen a really big interest from both fans and competitors,” Luchau said. “Our team of matchmakers Mike Moreno and Antoine Hood have come up with a new tournament format we will have for some of our events moving forward and March will kick it off.”
The 8-man tournament will consist of competitors of any skill level from 155-185 pounds.
Competitors that have already been selected include Ricky Gomez, Nick Bustamante, Christian Avalos, Brandon Cohea, Art Hurtado and Marlon Leano.
“I know the team is still looking for a few more competitors, including a couple alternates,” Luchau said. “This is just the start, we have some big plans in store this year for both MMA and Grappling.”
In the co-main event of the MMA portion of the card, Flyweight Champion Johnny Maldonado (4-0) of Bakersfield will defend his crown against San Luis Obispo’s Josue Gonzalez (3-2). The pair met in November when Maldonado knocked off then champ Gonzalez by TKO.
“It’s another big fight for us,” Luchau said. “I’m excited to see what changes Gonzalez has made. I know that Maldonado has recently changed camps so we may see a new version of him as well.”
Local fans will also be excited to see the return of Farmersville’s Martin Gomez (3-1) in a lightweight showdown with Visalia’s Mark Hernandez (2-2-1) and Lindsay lightweight Mark Felix (4-3) against Sacramento’s Julius Wright (5-4).
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