Throwing jabs, landing kicks, and finally submitting his sparring partner in a session-ending chokehold, Ruben Perez was hard at work in the boxing ring at the Santa Maria Athletic Club, preparing for his first-ever main event fight.
Perez and other local amateur mixed martial artists are heading to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville for the Monterey Bay Fight Club’s MMA show on Dec. 10. For the 23-year-old Perez, the opportunity to headline a California Amateur MMA Organization (CAMO) event and go for a belt means everything.
“I just gotta win,” Perez said. “I can’t lose any more. This is what I want to do, so I’ve got to show everybody it’s time.”
Though he started off slow, losing his first two amateur fights, Perez has shown promise in recent contests. His last victory came on Sept. 16 in Salinas against undefeated fighter Justin McClain, who had a six-inch height advantage.
“The bell rang and [Perez] walked out—roundhouse kick right to the guy’s ribs,” recalled Perez’s kickboxing trainer, Don DeNoyer. “He almost dropped him right there with one kick, and commenced to beating the living crap out of this guy who’d been stopping everybody.”
DeNoyer, a former professional kickboxer, has been working with Perez for two years, molding him into a more all-around fighter. He said Perez’s 2-4 record is misleading because of the high level of competition he’s faced thus far; he sees world champion potential in his young pupil.
“Every fight he’s been in, he’s just absolutely manhandled and hurt his opponents,” DeNoyer said. “He’s got that thing about him where he’s just an in-your-face, no-nonsense, straightforward kind of guy, but his first few fights, he let his nerves get the best of him.”
In his third fight, at “Central Coast Throwdown” in July, Perez knocked out previously undefeated fighter Francisco Alviles in 57 seconds in the first round. The win gave him confidence, and he’s been on a roll ever since.
“The difference is the jitters are gone,” Perez said. “I just take it as the losses I had, I fought really good talent, if you look at their names and wins, they’re good and I barely lost to them.”
Perez’s boxing coach, Al Lopez, said his student has natural power in his fists and has improved his movement and stance, making him an emerging dominant fighter.
“We call it ‘heavy hands’ in the fighting game,” Lopez said. “He can knock you out with either hand. … When you have those heavy hands, you pick up your hand speed, confidence, and power, and it’s hard to beat you.”
An overweight kid, Perez played football at Santa Maria High, and started out in Hawaiian Kenpo wanting to “beat up people.” Now a muscular 170 pounds, Perez dedicates about 30 hours a week to weight training, mitt work, wrestling, and sparring, all with the goal of fighting for a living.
“Once you really fall in love with the sport, then you actually train right,” he said. “So I guess I’m blessed that I wanted to learn self-defense. I think I’m pretty good at it, so it’s time to show everybody.”
In Watsonville, Perez will be going for a title belt against Napa’s Danasabe Mohammad. The card will also showcase fellow Santa Maria fighters Anthony Topas and Curtis Hamane.
Fight promoter Jerry Glover, who’s organized six shows in Santa Cruz County, said he plans on bringing his brand of MMA to the Santa Maria Fairpark in February, with more events on the horizon. He hopes the shows will build up Central Coast fighters and increase participation in the sport, as has happened up north.
“What we’re going to do is bring amateur MMA back to Santa Maria,” Glover said. “The sport is starting to grow.”
In addition to Perez, Lopez and DeNoyer train a core group of local “young guns,” including fighters Eric Prado and Jarrad Rhodes. Prado was a champion at the 170-pound weight class and will soon fight for a title at 155; Rhodes will also be fighting for a title on Dec. 17 in Ontario.
“They’re all about the same level right now, but you can see they’re outstanding compared to other groups,” Lopez said. “We went to L.A. and took [these] three fighters there, and they backed out on us when they saw them come in the door. That’s respect, and it tells me something about the fighters we’ve got here.”
DeNoyer, who holds training sessions at the Santa Maria Athletic Club, plans to take his fighters to his own training school, Rocktagon MMA, early next year. He said regular events at the Fairpark would be a huge boost to the local talent pool, a group usually forced to travel several hours for fights.
“For fans out there, really put 110 percent effort into supporting local fighters, because these kids are true warriors in the sense that they’re representing their hometown,” DeNoyer said.
After the Muhammad fight, if he’s healthy, Perez will turn right around and fight the following weekend against undefeated fighter Lam Pham. If Perez beats him, DeNoyer said, it’s time to go pro.
Perez, who credited his training partners for challenging him, said bringing future shows to Santa Maria would sell tickets and showcase a new breed of local MMA fighters.
“We don’t have a big camp going on here, but when we fight, we make it seem like we do,” Perez said. “Come out and watch us. You won’t be disappointed.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas goes to town on his deadlines. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 8-15, 2011.