LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK – April 24, 2024 – COMBATE GLOBAL today announced a new women’s flyweight (125 pounds) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) main event matchup between former world championship challenger Alejandra “Azul” Lara (9-7) and nine-time kickboxing champion Gisela “La Emperatriz” Luna (5-1), live on Fuse at 9:30 p.m. ET from Miami on Saturday, May 11.
Fuse is the exclusive English-language home of COMBATE GLOBALMMA.
The new main event matchup comes after previously announced Lucero “La Loba” Acosta, who had been slated to face off with Lara, was forced to withdraw from the commitment this week due to a fractured meniscus sustained in training camp.
The 32-year-old Luna of Buenos Aires, Argentina will make her COMBATE GLOBAL promotional debut, bringing with her a stellar resume that includes nine regional kickboxing championships, including four South American titles and five Argentinian national titles, as well as an outstanding overall record of 36-3-1 in the sport of kickboxing.
In MMA competition to date, Luna has earned four of her five professional victories via (T)KO or submission.
At 29 years of age, Lara, who hails from Medellin, Colombia and fights out of San Diego, Calif., is looking to return to the win column since teaming up with 10th Planet San Diego Jiu Jitsu and Training Center several months ago. She has since been training with the likes of superstars Phil Davis and Cat Zingano.
Lara has faced off with a handful of world-class opponents, including Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, whom Lara challenged for the Bellator women’s world flyweight title, and Muay Thai world champion Lena Ovchynnikova, whom Lara defeated by way of third round (4:03) submission (rear-naked choke) in 2018.
A second change to the COMBATE GLOBAL card on May 11 was announced today after previously announced Ovidio Bojorquez, who had been scheduled to take on Jimmie “Jimbo Slice” Pace, Jr. (3-1), was forced to bow out of the welterweight (170 pounds) fight due to a hand injury sustained in training camp.
The 28-year-old Pace, Jr., better known by his nickname, will collide with unbeaten fellow knockout artist Jaden Ortega (1-0) in a 175-pound catchweight contest.
Ortega is a 22-year-old prodigy from Spokane, Wash., where he trains under Rick Little at Sik Jitsu, the home of former world champion, Julianna Peña and undefeated COMBATE GLOBAL star, Melissa “La Mamba” Amaya.
A former All-American high school football star, Ortega posted an overall 4-1 record as an amateur, notching all of his victories via (T)KO, inside of two rounds.
Ortega made his professional debut on May 19, scoring a (T)KO on Billy Martin in the first round of battle.
“Jimbo Slice,” hails from Miami and is a former undefeated (3-0) amateur who has since earned all of his professional wins by way of (T)KO or submission, including a thunderous 16-second knockout of Spain’s Boris Garcia last July 1.
In the previously announced COMBATE GLOBAL featherweight (145 pounds) co-main event, Mauricio Rios (4-0) will square off with fellow undefeated, new star Tony “The Conqueror” Cortez (2-0) in a Mexico vs. USA showdown.
Rios of Mexico City is a 25-year-old member of the fearsome Bonebreakers fight squad and has earned three of his four professional wins by way of submission.
The 22-year-old Cortez, who is on a 10-fight win streak since the start of his career as an amateur, looks to keep his perfect record intact, winning his last two bouts via submission and KO.
