December 23, 2024

Copa Combate results:Levy Marroquin wins eight-man bantamweight tournament, takes home $100K

Levy Marroquin went from not being an official participant of Copa Combate to winning the whole tournament.

The Mexican was originally part of an alternate bout in case any fighter competing in Copa Americas’ eight-man bantamweight tournament — which took place on Saturday night in Cancun, Mexico — wasn’t able to continue on in the bracket. But after Ricky Palacios failed to make weight at Friday’s weigh-ins, Marroquin was given the chance to compete in the tourney.

In about a span of four hours, Marroquin entered the cage three times and got his hand raised on every occasion. The Mexican fighter outpointed John Castaneda in the final, submitted tournament favorite Marcelo Rojo in the semis, and defeated Carlos Rivera in a unanimous decision in the quarterfinals.

With these results, Marroquin is now 11-2 as a professional fighter and takes home $100,000 for winning the one-night Copa Combate tournament.

Meanwhile, in the co-main event of the card, Melissa Martinez managed to remain undefeated in her MMA career. The Mexican strawweight stopped Gloria Bravo in impressive fashion, overwhelming Bravo with punches to earn a first-round TKO win.

Throughout the whole bout, Martinez proved to be the better striker, while avoiding being taken down by Bravo. “Melly” is now 3-0 in her MMA career with all wins coming by stoppage.

Additionally, two more fights were contested outside the bantamweight tournament.

In a women’s atomweight bout, Lisbeth Lopez Silva defeated Sheila Padilla via second-round TKO. Padilla left herself open trying to escape several different positions on the ground, allowing Silva to land and accumulate ground-and-pound to eventually get the stoppage win. Silva is now on a five-fight winning streak after having dropped her first three professional fights.

Bantamweights Felipe Vargas and Victor Madrigal competed in the only tournament alternate bout of the night. Colombia’s Vargas, who fights out of American Top Team in South Florida, picked up a split decision win over Madrigal. Vargas is now 3-0 in his fighting career.

Below are the full tournament results:

Copa Combate final:

Levy Marroquin def. John Castaneda via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Copa Combate semi-finals:

Levy Marroquin def. Marcelo Rojo via submission (guillotine choke)(Round 3, 1:56)

John Castaneda def. Marc Gomez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Copa Combate quarter finals:

Marcelo Rojo def. Mikey Erosa via submission (arm-bar)(Round 1, 2:20)

Levy Marroquin def. Carlos Rivera via unanimous decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-8)

John Castaneda def. Kevin Moreyra via submission (rear-naked choke)(Round 1, 4:55)

Marc Gomez def. Alejandro Abomohor via unanimous decision (10-8, 10-9, 10-9)

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