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ANNOUNCED TODAY:
FORMER WORLD CHAMPION DANI BAREZ COLLIDES WITH
FELLOW SENSATION JOBY SANCHEZ AT FLYWEIGHT
GASTON “TONGA” REYNO FACES OFF WITH ANGEL “TITO” CRUZ
IN A 150-POUND CATCHWEIGHT AFFAIR
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED MAIN EVENT:
TITO ORTIZ VS. ALBERTO “EL PATRÓN” RODRIGUEZ
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
NEW YORK – November 12, 2019 – Combate Americas, the world’s premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports and media franchise, today announced two new, featured main card bouts for the much-anticipated, ‘Tito vs. Alberto - What Side Are You On?,’ live pay-per-view television event from Payne Arena in McAllen, Texas on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Priced from $30, tickets for the Combate Americas ‘Tito vs. Alberto - What Side Are You On?’ live pay-per-view television event hosted by TS-1 Promotions, are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.
The event will be headlined by the previously announced and highly-anticipated, 210-pound catchweight showdown between UFC Hall of Famer and former world light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz (20-12-1) of Huntington Beach, Calif., and multiple-time WWE Heavyweight Champion and former PRIDE and DEEP MMA star Alberto “El Patrón” Rodriguez (9-5) (formerly “Alberto Del Rio” of the WWE) of San Antonio, Texas by way of San Luis Potosi, SLP, Mexico.
At stake in the matchup between Ortiz and “El Patrón” is the previously announced, winner-take-all title belt challenge that will see the victor walk away with the loser’s coveted, championship belt.
One of the two featured, main card fights announced today for the show will see former BAMMA World Champion Dani Barez (11-4) and fellow world-ranked sensation and former UFC standout Joby Sanchez (13-5) face off in a flyweight (125 pounds) contest.
In the second featured bout announced today, the pride of Uruguay, Gaston “Tonga” Reyno (8-2, 2 NC) will collide with recent Combate Americas “Finish of the Night” winner Angel “Tito” Cruz (6-4) at a catchweight of 150 pounds.
The 30-year-old Barez of Valencia, Spain will be hunting for his sixth consecutive conquest after delivering a highlight reel, first round (2:04) knockout (punch) of Mexico’s Ivan Hernandez-Flores in what was Barez’s Combate Americas promotional debut on April 12.
Sanchez is a 28-year-old resident of Albuquerque, N.M., where he has been brought up through the ranks by the famed Jackson-Wink MMA camp.
A winner of 8 of his 13 career wins via (T)KO or submission, Sanchez is coming off a unanimous decision victory over former world champion Jose “Pochito” Alday in Combate Americas action on October 11.
Above: Gaston “Tonga” Reyno (left) will battle Angel “Tito” Cruz (right) in a featured 150-pound matchup on the ‘Tito vs. Alberto – What Side Are You On?’ live pay-per-view televised Combate Americas event on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Fighting out of San Diego, Calif., Reyno is a 32-year-old native of Montevideo, aiming for his third consecutive victory, and his second in La Jaula, the Combate Americas competition cage, after defeating Carlos Ernesto Ochoa by way of first-round (2:21) submission (rear-naked choke) in a memorable battle on September 28, 2018.
Reyno holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a discipline he began training in at the age of seven, before adding Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to his arsenal.
Also 32 years of age, Cruz is a native of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, residing and training in San Antonio.
Cruz is coming off a breakthrough performance that saw him defeat Ariel Suarez by way of first round (:49) submission (keylock) at the Combate Americas live television event in Garland, Texas on November 1.
Facing off in the previously announced Combate Americas women’s world strawweight (115 pounds) championship showdown, and the first Combate Americas women’s world championship bout in history, will be undefeated, 21-year-old knockout artist Melissa “Super Mely” Martinez (6-0) of Mexico City, Mex. and fellow ferocious, world-ranked star Desiree “Dirty Dez” Yanez (5-1) of Waco, Texas.
Also previously announced was a featured women’s 118-pound catchweight contest between former Lucha Underground world champion and undefeated professional boxer “Sexy” Dulce Garcia (1-0) (formerly known as “Sexy Star” on Lucha Underground) of Monterrey, N.L., Mexico and fellow MMA upstart Marisol Ruelas (1-2) of Chicago, Ill.
Additional bouts for the Combate Americas ‘Tito vs. Alberto - What Side Are You On?’ live pay-per-view television extravaganza at Payne Arena in McAllen will be announced soon.
COMBATE AMERICAS ‘TITO VS. ALBERTO - WHAT SIDE ARE YOU ON?’ UPDATED FIGHT CARD
CATCHWEIGHT (210 LBS.) MAIN EVENT:
Tito Ortiz (20-12-1) vs. Alberto “El Patrón” Rodriguez (9-5)
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STRAWWEIGHT CO-MAIN EVENT:
Melissa “Super Mely” Martinez (6-0) vs. Desiree “Dirty Dez” Yanez (5-1)
FEATURED FLYWEIGHT BOUT:
Dani Barez (11-4) vs. Joby Sanchez (13-5)
FEATURED CATCHWEIGHT (150 LBS.) BOUT:
Gaston “Tonga” Reyno (8-2, 2 NC) vs. Angel “Tito” Cruz (6-4)
FEATURED CATCHWEIGHT (118 LBS.) BOUT:
Dulce Garcia (1-0) vs. Marisol Ruelas (1-2)
ABOUT COMBATE AMERICAS
Combate Americas is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise, rapidly becoming the number two sport after soccer, for Spanish speaking fans worldwide. The Combate Americas franchise includes live event and original shoulder programming on some of the biggest television, OTT and digital platforms in Spanish and English, including Univision and Univision Deportes Network (UDN), DAZN, ESPN, GOL, Pluto TV and Facebook Watch worldwide. The company also owns and operates a multi-platform media studio, La Jaula Studios. This event is not sponsored or affiliated with WWE or UFC.
Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren, also the co-founder/co-creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has been described by New York Magazine as "the marketing genius behind the UFC,” while Yahoo Sports has said he "knows more about the sport than just about anyone in it today." With an unprecedented and cutting edge product and a blue-chip ownership and management team, Combate Americas is poised to break new ground and bring about a new era in world championship level MMA competition.
