Juan Puerta (21-6) vs. Lloyd McKinney (14-7)
Combate’s latest transformation from Combate Americas to Combate Global has been accompanied by a regular set of late-night events. The latest, dubbed “Superfly,” features an interesting flyweight scrap between Juan Puerta and Lloyd McKinney.
The 33-year-old Puerta made his pro debut in a losing effort in 2011, and he ultimately went just 3-3 through his first six fights. Of course, the American Top Team Atlanta product’s record has improved since then. He reeled off five straight wins before suffering a knockout loss courtesy of Johnny Campbell. Another three victories followed, but then Puerta hit a rough patch in which he dropped back-to-back fights against Darren Mima and Jared Scoggins. Yet again, he has gotten back on track with 10 consecutive wins, including a finish of Gustavo Balart, a title victory over Kazbek Ashimov, and a decision nod over veteran Claudio Ledesma. Overall, “Leadfeather” has 11 submission finishes
Prosecutors Dismiss Rape Charges Against MMA Veteran, Jiu-Jitsu Coach Rafael de Freitas
Prosecutors dropped
rape charges against Albuquerque jiu-jitsu coach and MMA
veteran Rafael de
Freitas on Friday.
According to a report from the
Albuquerque Journal, the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s
Office entered a nolle prosequi in the case against de Freitas,
which means it was unwilling to prosecute. De Freitas, who is known
as “Barata,” was jailed and charged with third-degree sexual
criminal penetration after allegedly drugging and raping a
jiu-jitsu student at her home in November 2020. While probable cause existed at the time of arrest, additional
investigation has revealed that, at this time, there exists an
Tim Elliott is on a winning streak for the first time since his return to the UFC and had, what many believe to be, his best performance at UFC 259 against Jordan Espinosa unless you ask the man himself.
Elliott earned a one-sided unanimous decision during the preliminary card at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. While the Glory MMA standout jumped back into the top-10 with the victory, Elliott admits there was some frustration he had to deal with while the fight was playing out, which came out during the final 25 seconds of the second round when he accused Espinosa of being a “woman beater.” The 34-year-old wishes he could have handled things a bit differently.
Image Credit: UFC on Youtube
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya says that UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz beat him fair and square at UFC 259.
Adesanya lost a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards in a failed bid to become the new champ at 205lbs. The judges scored the fight 49-46, 49-45, and 49-45 in favor of Blachowicz, who successfully defended his light heavyweight belt for the first time. However, there was a lot of discussion about the scorecards afterward. Some thought that Adesanya deserved to get the nod, and UFC analyst Daniel Cormier was criticized for pushing the narrative that he was winning the first few rounds of the fight. Adesanya, however, doesn’t see it that way. Even though he’d love to be the 205lbs champ, he admits he lost the fight.
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Albuquerque’s Aaron Angel Perez is not keen on a featherweight rematch with Raymond Ford after they fought to a draw on Saturday in Dallas. (Jim Thompson/Journal File)
Becoming unofficially the co-best prospect in the world wasn’t enough for Albuquerque boxer Aaron Angel Perez.
A draw, even achieved against a highly touted, heavily favored opponent on boxing’s big stage, wasn’t what Perez had come to Dallas for.
“I feel like I won it,” Perez (10-0-1, six knockouts) said in a phone interview Sunday after having fought to an eight-round featherweight draw against hot prospect Raymond Ford (8-0-1, four KOs). The bout was streamed internationally on DAZN, part of a blockbuster card staged by Matchroom Boxing.