559 Fights makes Fresno debut June 13

CLOVIS, Calif. – 559 Fights will make its much-anticipated debut in Fresno on Thursday, June 13 at Club Eva. 

“This is something that’s been talked about for a long, long time. It was never our plan to move into the Fresno market, but we were presented with a great offer from Club Eva to come work out there,” said 559 Fights President Jeremy Luchau. “Things really fell into place and ultimately I felt it was a good decision for 559 Fights, it’s fans and more importantly the fighters.”

Doors open at 6 p.m. with mixed martial arts action kicking off at 7. Tickets start at just $30 and are available at Visalia’s MMA Gear, Core Sports Nutrition and www.559fights.com

Featured in the main event is 559 Fights’ first-ever title fight, pitting Firebaugh bantamweight Matt Perez (4-0) vs. Exeter’s Alex Valencia  (3-1).

“It’s something special to fight for our promotion’s first title fight. There were several fighters worthy of this honor, but I’m not sure we could have put together a better fight than Perez vs. Valencia,” Luchau said. “This is going to be a great fight for the fans and for all involved.”

In the co-main event, Fresno welterweight Art Hernandez (5-2) takes on Madera’s Chris Huerta and in another featured bout Fresno featherweight James Spear (2-5-1) battles Merced’s Andrew Garza (0-0-1).

“Hernandez and Huerta will be a fun fight. Both of these guys are veterans of the amateur circuit and well on their way to competing at the professional level soon,” Luchau said. “Spear is one of the more exciting fighters in the Valley and I think it will be a lot of fun to watch him fight at home in front of the Fresno crowd.”

559 Fights has produced 14 MMA shows from Bakersfield up highway 99 into Tulare, Visalia, Hanford and Lemoore. It is currently one of the more respected amateur promotions in the state and was host to the 2012 CAMO Regional State Finals.

559 Fights returns to action at the Kings Fair on Friday July 5 and then heads back to Visalia’s Recreation Ballpark on August 24.

“We really don’t have a home base. We’ve moved all over, starting in Hanford, going into Tulare, Bakersfield, Lemoore, Visalia and now Fresno. We have plans on reaching out into some other smaller communities and continue to spread our reach and help promote MMA and these fighters throughout the Central Valley,” Luchau said.

559 Fights is also promoting a poker night at the 500 Club in Clovis with Ultimate Fighting Championship stars Ian McCall and Francisco Rivera on Wednesday, June 12 at 7 p.m.

“This gives MMA fans an opportunity to come out and mingle with some of the very best MMA talent in the world,” Luchau said. “You’ll see that guys like Ian and Cisco enjoy the fans and the people within our community. It’s great to see guys like this, who fought here locally, to come back and give back.”

Weigh-ins are open to the public at Me-n-Ed’s Victory Grill at 10 a.m. and a pre-fight party will follow at the same location hosted by McCall and Rivera.

For more information visit www.559fights.com

Also in action;

-Fresno light heavyweight Paul Porter (1-2) vs. Kingsburg’s Robert Vildosola (1-3).

-Fresno middleweight Jesse James (1-0) vs. Hanford’s Mark Scambia (2-0).

-Fresno flyweight Abel Garcia (2-4) vs. Kerman’s Chris Gonzales (0-1).

-Selma cruiserweight Prentice Rios (0-0) vs. Roseville’s Tyler Andrade (1-0).

-Fresno welterweight Mason Fowler (0-0) vs. Bakersfield’s Bill Peck (1-3).

-Fresno middleweight Rigoberto Orozco (0-1) vs. Lemoore’s Scott Baughman (0-0).

-Bakersfield middleweight Cody Sons (1-0) vs. Visalia’s Daniel Quiroz (0-1).

Arreola meets Hickox in 559 Fights return to Tulare County Fair

HANFORD, Ca. – The Tulare County Fair will play host to the next addition of 559 Fights on Saturday, September 15.

Lemoore’s Alberto Arreola puts his unbeaten record of 3-0 on the line against Exeter’s Dakota Hickox (1-0) in a lightweight headliner at the Tulare Fair.

Tickets start at $25 and include fair admission. Tickets can be purchased at the Tulare County Fair office, Visalia’s MMA Gear in the Sequoia Mall in Visalia and at www.559fights.com.

“ We are very excited to be returning to Tulare. We had a great event in July and we are looking for a great crowd with some action-packed fights at this year’s fair,” said 559 Fights President Jeremy Luchau.

“Currently we have 16 scheduled fights, which includes 12 athletes from Tulare County. Also on the card are three bouts in the junior division, which features contestants under the age of 18 in bouts with modified MMA rules, including protective gear.”

In the co-main event, Tulare’s Ruben Rojas (1-0) from locally run Kings Knights take on Madera’s Matt Perez (2-0). Kings Knights also feature two competitors in the junior division, as Joseph Madrid makes his debut against Hanford’s Freddy Esquivel and Valentino Esparza makes his debut against Madera’s Angel Berrazza.

In the other youth bout, Clovis’ Porter Sharp meets Visalia’s Daniel Sauceda.

Competitors under the age of 18 wear protective head gear, shin guards for certain age groups and compete with modified rules such as no head strikes, elbow strikes and only a select few submission holds are allowed.

“We had a great response from our last event in Hanford featuring some of the youth and junior competitors and the folks in Tulare really wanted to bring some of those bouts out there,” Luchau said. “Plus we have some other pretty interesting local bouts, featuring fighters from local gyms.”

Visalia featherweight Cameron Ramirez (2-1) makes his return to action against Bakersfield’s David Mendoza (1-0) and Tulare’s Armando Espinoza makes his highly anticipated lightweight debut against Merced’s Edward Mackey (0-0).

Doors open for the event at 6 p.m. and fights start at 7.

In other action;

-Lemoore light heavyweight Anthony Martinez (2-1) vs. Taft’s Shaquil Gant (1-0).

-Tulare lightweight Tyrell Tucker (1-1-1) vs. Madera’s Chris Huerta (2-4).

-Hanford middleweight Daniel Ortiz (1-0) vs. Fresno’s Art Hernandez (1-1).

-Tulare featherweight J.J. Madrid (1-2) vs. Bakersfield’s Ernesto Zamano (0-1).

-Hanford featherweight Jason Ollivier (0-1) vs. Bakersfield’s Samuel Montiel (0-2).

-Lemoore lightweight Jesus Sanchez (0-1) vs. Fresno’s Rudy Sanchez (1-0).

-Tulare welterweight Nick Griffin (0-1) vs. Porterville’s Mike Pinon (0-0).

-Kingsburg middleweight Robert Vildosola (0-2) vs. Fresno’s Raymond Rhan (0-0).

-Dos Palos flyweight Salomon Ramirez (0-1) vs. Fresno’s Bryan Lopez (0-0).