Grant Hobbs stepped up from amateur to professional fighter Saturday night at the Ute Mountain Casino in Towaoc.
Hobbs walked up the stairs and circled the cage in front of the home faithful in King of the Cage, Wrangler. The 125-pound bout between Hobbs and Gene Perez started out as how the eager crowd thought it would.
Hobbs attacked aggressively with a hard right kick to Perez. Each traded blows on their feet, before going to the ground. Hobbs had early control, pinning Perez against the cage. The Dove Creek native used his wrestling skills to his advantage, while he could. Perez knew of Hobbs fighting style and countered with a reversal of his own.
I thought he was going to come in aggressive as a wrestler, said Perez, of Belen, N.M. We sprawled and brawled. When I got him to the ground, I saw that I was a lot more stronger than him.
With the two against the north side of the cage, Perez landed a devastating right blow that shook Hobbs.
The blows kept coming.
Perez right hook quickly multiplied into several punches before Hobbs knew what hit him, so to speak. The quick release of Perez was too much to overcome, as the cage official called the fight one minute, 20 seconds into the first round. Hobbs five-fight winning streak was over.
Plain and simple, I went out there and the guy was better than me tonight, said Hobbs (0-1 pro). Welcome to being a professional. I didnt think I was going to walk in here and destroy all the people like I did as an amateur.
Perez danced in celebration, much to the chagrin of the boisterous Towaoc crowd.
I started laying down the strikes. I saw he couldnt defend it, so I just put down the finish on it, said Perez, who is 2-2 as a pro. I watched a lot of his fights and saw he was a strong wrestler. I worked on my sprawling a lot for this fight.
Hobbs learned from experience in defeat as a wrestler and has as a cage fighter. The home crowd pleaser vows to be back on top.
In terms of a rematch with Perez?
Theres no reason to rematch somebody who just kicked your ass, Hobbs said. Im just going to take it one fight at a time. You learn from your losses. Im definitely going to learn from this one.
It was a night of Mixed Martial Arts fights people wont forget.
While some learned they need to go back to the drawing board. Some tasted the fruits of victory.
David Lyons, 21, was notified a week prior by his Lifer MMA (Cortez) trainer Kaan Clark that he would be fighting at 170 pounds.
The former U.S. Army soldier happily made his debut against Arizonas Mac Henry. Lyons used his lengthy reach to deter the shorter Henry from making any real contact. Lyons controlled the first round with deceptively strong punches, before ending the fight in the second round.
Henry tried to counter on the ground, but the taller Lyons out-grappled his opponent and locked Henry in an armbar.
Just like that, Lyons was 1-0.
I was a little nervous, but I was more excited, he said. I just wanted to go out there to see what kind of game he had, what he was going to throw at me. He got those first punches in and then it went pretty easy from there.
Lyons wrestled as a youth, but became interested in martial arts during his time in the military.
Thats where I started opening up more to different types of combat, Lyons said. Thats where I found what I really like to do is stand up, kicking. I like using my knees a lot. Its effective.
Also representing Lifer MMA was 23-year-old Joey Trevino. After tasting bittersweet defeat in May at Santa Fe, Trevino flourished in front of the home fans versus Levi Lucero, of Belen, at 130 pounds.
An evenly matched first round ensued. But then controversy reared its ugly head.
I heard my corner yelling, Knee! Trevino said.
Trevino flung his right knee to Luceros left temporal lobe. Knees and feet to the head are against KOTC rules, so Trevino had points deducted. The ref briefly stopped the fight, so trainers could tend to Lucero.
The New Mexico man eventually stepped back in the cage, but appeared not to be fully recovered. Trevino quickly took Lucero down and landed a couple punches, and the ref quickly stopped the fight.
Trevino earned his first win by TKO and evened his amateur ledger at 1-1.
We shook hands, we talked, said Trevino about meeting with Lucero after the fight. He was excited. He wants to do it again, I want to do it again. Hopefully, maybe in the future, (KOTC match maker) Jon Judy will set it up again for rematch.
Dove Creek native and former Cortez fighter Zach Larimore won his amateur fight at 145 pounds by unanimous decision. Now fighting out of 8th Street Gym in Grand Junction, Larimore upped his record to 3-2.
The next KOTC fights at the Ute Mountain Casino are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 8.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.