LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK – July 10, 2024 – COMBATE GLOBAL today announced the return of its ‘Mexico vs. Japan’ series of star-studded fights for the second time in two years, airing live in English on Fuse (9 p.m. ET/PT) from Miami on Saturday, July 27.
COMBATE GLOBAL ‘Mexico vs. Japan II’ will be headlined by a featherweight (145 pounds) showdown between undefeated 2023 “COPA COMBATE” champion Ramiro “El Cachanilla” Jimenez (10-0) and former Japanese regional champion, Takahiro Ashida (26-14-2).
“What a classic matchup,” said COMBATE GLOBAL CEO Campbell McLaren. “Modern day Aztecas vs. Samurais. Both of these countries have great martial arts traditions, so sparks are going to fly next month.”
The 25-year-old Jimenez, who hails from Mexicali, B.C., Mexico took his young career to new heights in December, defeating three different opponents in one night to become the fifth “COPA COMBATE” one-night, eight-man, $100,000 grand prize tournament champion in COMBATE GLOBAL history.
En route to becoming the tournament victor, Jimenez delivered highlight reel finishes in each of his last two tournament bouts –a first round (2:59) head kick knockout on Chile’s Mauricio Eguiluz and a first round (1:57) submission (kimura) of Dominican Republic wrestling
Jimenez’s gritty and crowd-pleasing style of fighting has helped him earn 8 of his 10 professional career wins to date via (T)KO or submission.
Ashida, 34, hails from Saitama, Japan, and is a former featherweight champion with a wide range of fight experience under different sets of rules, ranging from MMA to Shootboxing to kickboxing.
Heading into his 43rd professional MMA bout, Ashida, who has earned 50 percent of his MMA career wins by way of (T)KO or submission, is a six-time veteran of RIZIN, Japan’s version of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
In the bantamweight (135 pounds) co-main event, Ismael “Kraken” Zamora (8-2) will take on Teppei “Tetsu Jagaimo” Suwabe (13-11-1).
Zamora is a 24-year-old native of Mexico City, Mexico and a member of the Bonebreakers, Mexico’s top MMA camp that won the 2022 COMBATE GLOBAL competition reality television series that pitted fighters from four different gyms around the world against one another with a $50,000 grand prize at stake.
An aggressive-minded fighter with fast feet and hands, Zamora will seek his fourth consecutive victory in La Jaula when he faces Suwabe.
The 34-year-old Suwabe of Shizuoka, Japan will compete for the third time this year, and look for his third straight win after defeating each of his last two opponents in famed, long-standing Japanese promotion DEEP.
In a featured welterweight (170 pounds) affair, COMBATE GLOBAL’s Marcos “El Lobo” Lloreda of Miami will battle another DEEP competitor in 26-year-old Shoma Yamada (3-2) of Aichi, Japan.
