Combate Americas’ One-Night MMA Tournament Was One Of The Best Cards Of The Year

CANCUN — An hour before doors opened for the inaugural Copa Combate, MMA fans were lined up outside the Pyramid at the Grand Oasis Cancun resort. An enterprising scalper sold tickets to the sold-out event, and just inside the entrance, complimentary red and green Combate Americas T-shirts were stacked up and waiting for every fan in attendance. In a few hours, MMA fans around the world would be watching on NBC Sports Network, Telemundo, Azteca 7, and ESPN.

On Saturday night, just shy of the 24th anniversary of the first-ever UFC event, Combate Americas held a one-night, eight-man tournament to crown the first Copa Combate winner and resulting $100,000 purse. The winner of the 135-pound tournament stood to take home not only the cash and pride, but also a fight against incoming UFC star Érik “Goyito” Pérez, a bout that will likely take place in January. The end result will likely go down as one of the best cards of the year, top to bottom.

Earlier in the day, company CEO Campbell McLaren and announcer Alberto Del Rio announced the tournament combatants to the media. Mikey Erosa had taken a circuitous route to the tournament, starting in Puerto Rico, flying to Miami, and then taking a boat from the Florida Keys to Cozumel, and eventually to Cancun. Erosa had also promised to give a large portion of his purse to his sister, in order for her to pay back her student loans, if he managed to win the $100,000 for capturing the Copa. (Erosa’s night unfortunately ended early in the first match of the main card, when he survived multiple submission attempts from Argentinian fighter Marcelo Rojo, only to wind up in a frighteningly deep armbar.)

McLaren kept talking about how he was likely going to burst before making it to showtime, as his vision for the future of Combate Americas includes many more Copas, and increased international presence for what he believes is the next generation of fighters that the company is cultivating.

The event itself consisted of the tournament, an alternate bout, and two women’s fights. Two of the tournament’s bracketed fighters failed to make weight on Friday, scrapping a planned second alternate fight, but no one at Combate seemed dismayed in the slightest at the last-minute change in plans. One of the fighters who missed weight, Andres Ayala, came to Cancun with no team or trainers, and while cutting weight on his own, was over by just one pound.

In a unique and sensible spin on the one-night tournament format, the opening quarterfinal round consisted of four one-round, five-minute bouts. In theory, this would seem to allow for both a better chance at finishes, as well as an increased likelihood that the featured fighters would make it through the entire evening without needing to be replaced.

The Cancun crowd was hot all night, cheering thunderously for native Mexican fighters. The Grand Oasis supplied a bevy of talent to work the crowd, including Día de Muertos dancers, two men in morph suits, a pair of nuns, a cavewoman leading a Tyrannosaurus Rex around by a leash, and two men in drag on stilts. Every one of these acts was a hit with the fans.

Two of the three Mexican fighters lost their first matches and were eliminated, and by the finals, they were firmly behind Lexy Saul “El Negro” Marroquin, originally an alternate before Ricky Palacios missed weight on Friday. The ovation when Marroquin submitted Rojo was something else.

In the end, the finals came down to a native Mexican against a Mexican-American, as John “Sexi Mexi” Castaneda narrowly squeaked passed Marc “Lufo” Gomez of Spain in the other semi. But it was abundantly clear the crowd was solidly behind Marroquin. They also got another reason to cheer lustily in the co-main event, as another native, “Super Melly” Melissa Martinez, remained undefeated by taking down Gloria Bravo of Chile.

In both men’s third fight of the evening, Cantaneda was methodical, and wanted to take the fight to the ground, but Marroquin just visibly wanted it more, fighting his heart out in all three rounds and getting the better of Sexi Mexi at every turn. He continually stuffed repeated takedown attempts (and got a takedown of his own), and threw every punch with a ferocity and crispness like it was his first of the night. Another thriller with a wild ending with both men throwing everything they had ended up with Marroquin, the alternate, taking the decision and making the Cancun crowd deliriously happy.

By any measure, Copa Combate was a success. Next year’s installment will have a whole lot to live up to.

Copa Combate 2017 results:

Copa Combate alternate bantamweight bout: Felipe Vargas def. Victor Madrigal via split decision (10-9, 9-10, 10-9)

Atomweight: Lisbeth Lopez Silva def. Sheila Padilla via TKO (strikes), 0:24 Round 2

Copa Combate Bantamweight Quarterfinals:

Marcelo Rojo def. Mikey Erosa via submission (armbar), 2:20 Round 1
Levy Saul Marroquin def. Carlos Rivera via decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-8)
John Castaneda def. Kevin Moreyra via submission (rear naked choke), 4:55 Round 1
Marc Gomez def. Alejandro Abomohor via decision (10-8, 10-9, 10-9)

Copa Combate Bantamweight Semifinals:

Levy Saul Marroquin def. Marcelo Rojo via submission (guillotine choke), 1:56 Round 3
John Castaneda def. Marc Gomez via decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Strawweight: Melissa Martinez def. Gloria Bravo via TKO (strikes), 4:18 Round 1

Copa Combate Bantamweight Finals: Levy Saul Marroquin def. John Castaneda via decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)