SELMA, Calif. – Larry Gonzales hasn’t had the best of luck in his young mixed martial arts career.
The Fresno heavyweight had three fights fall apart before he even had a chance to compete.
But once Gonzales stepped foot in the cage, he hasn’t looked back amassing a 4-0 record, capturing a 559 Fights Heavyweight Championship and climbing to a No. 3 ranking in the state.
Gonzales hopes to keep the good fortune going on March 13 – Friday the 13th – in a heavyweight title showdown with Fresno’s Kail Melton (1-2) at the Visalia Convention Center. Doors open at 6pm and first fight is at 7.
“Looking at things now this might be one of the largest fight cards we’ve ever put together,” 559 Fights owner Jeremy Luchau said. “15 mma bouts in all, with three of them being title fights and a grappling tournament. I don’t know what more fight fans could possibly want.”
The co-main event features a California Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Organization Middleweight State title fight, pitting two of the Valley’s best 185-pound prospects against one another – Hanford’s Marqus Blevins (3-0) and Orange Cove’s Jared Velasquez (4-3).
“It’s been a long time coming to get Blevins into the 559 Fights cage,” Luchau said. “Blevins trains out of Valley Fight Club and that’s where I had my start in mixed martial arts training. It’s an honor and a pleasure to be able to have them represented in our promotion. And I’m also excited to have Velasquez back in action. He’s as tough as they come and represents a great city in Orange Cove where we just had an extremely successful event.”
Flyweights will also take center stage, as 125-pound 559 Fights kingpin Johnny Maldonado of Bakersfield defends his perfect 4-0 record in a rematch with former champion Josue Gonzales (3-2) of San Luis Obispo.
559 Fights will also be hosting its first grappling tournament, which will take place in the 155-185 weight classes and feature competitors from all over the Central Valley.
“The fight card is pretty stacked, but I’m probably most excited about this grappling tournament that we are doing,” Luchau added. “There’s going to be a lot of notable names from the Valley competing. It’s a great start for us on where we see the future of both grappling and 559 Fights heading in the future.”
In other main card bouts; Irvine flyweight Meggan Tamondong (2-1) takes on Rocklin’s Valerie Thurs (3-4), Lindsay lightweight Mark Felix (4-3) battles Sacramento’s Julius Wright (5-4), Hanford featherweight Denzel Rosaroso (3-0) fights Bakersfield’s Sal Bruno (2-2-2), Sanger welterweight Anthony Mata (1-1) tangles with Bakersfield’s Jeramy Titsworth (1-1) and Porterville light heavyweight Omar Reneau (2-3) fights Lathrop’s Danny Moreno (2-2).
Grappling competitors include; Porterville’s Brandon Cohea, Fresno’s Nick Bustamante, Selma’s Julian Tovar, Parlier’s Christian Avalos, Fresno’s Art Hernandez, Visalia’s Marc DeLaCruz, Fresno’s Alex Rojas and Bakersfield’s Matt Reed.