Total Combat 34

On July 25, Total Combat held their 34th event, Vengeance, at Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park and once again put on a great show.

With the sport of MMA growing at such an exponential rate, Total Combat has definitely found it’s niche in the market. Other MMA companies should take note of what this organization is doing. They have top fighters such as their current middleweight champion Jesse Taylor, they provide a platform for up-and-coming fighters, they have the production value, and they have tapped into the MMA market in Mexico with MTV Tres and the recently announced partnership with ZZINC Group.

Total Combat 34 provided us with exciting fights at a great venue. One might think it odd to hold an MMA event in an outdoor theater but let me tell you, it worked. There wasn’t a bad seat in the house and who can complaing about being outside on a warm San Diego summer night!

The night started with one of the rare submissions in Mixed Martial Arts when Jason Carvajal secured a gogoplata forcing Jose Carbajal to tap out at just 1:34 of the first round.

The second fight of the night brought us Michelle Vera, little sister to UFC light-heavyweight Brandon Vera, in her second MMA bout against Leah Melnychuk. Throughout the night, there was no louder pop from the crowd than the one that echoed for Michell Vera. “Puma” was able to hold off Melnychuk’s takedown attempts and fight through foot stomps as she ruled the stand-up until the third round. Melnychuk scored a takedown and almost secured a triangle, but Vera was able to hold out for a unanimous decision win. Brandon Vera was a very proud big brother.

After that fight, I was sitting next to Michelle and got a chance to talk to her. She told me throughout the fight that Melnychuk kept telling her “you are going to lose” which only served to fuel Vera’s fire.  Michelle’s foot was also a beautiful shade of black and blue from the foot stomps.

The fights that followed showed one of the reasons that Total Combat is a success, providing a breeding ground for up-and-coming talent.

Tyler Bialecki from Yuma scored a first round submission over Javi Alanis from Riverside.

Arthur Fulber from San Diego overcame adversity as he secured a triangle from the bottom after taking a beating from Zeb Beatty from Rancho Cucamunga.

Mark Striegl fighting out of Alliance MMA here in San Diego looked very impressive in his debut as he put Andy Jewitt from Victorville to sleep with an RNC.

Juan Miranda finished fellow San Diegan Joshua WIlliams with a big KO just 57 seconds in to the fight.

Preston Scharf of San Louis Obispo fought a back and forth battle with Steve Gable of Oceanside before winning a unanimous decision.

In the main event, a contender for Jesse Taylor’s Total Combat middleweight title may have risen. Gary Padilla fighting out of Alliance MMA showed us true MMA by taking the fight everywhere against Steve mensing of Los Angeles. In the first round Padilla sturggled to score a takedown against Mensing good defense. Once Padilla finally scored a takedown Mesing was quick to his feet only to catch a head kick which stumbled him forcing him to eat brutal punches and elbows for about a minute and a half. The second round was very obvisous that Mensing had not completley recovered as Padilla kept the pressure on. Between the second and third round, the bout was stopped by the doctor giving Padilla the TKO win.

A great night of fights from a great promotion. Total Combat is going to continue to grow and is making it’s mark in the MMA world. If you haven’t been out to see an event put on by Total Combat, get out there and check it out!

The next event, Total Anarchy, will be on September 5 from Mexico City. No fight have been announced yet.

Be sure to check out the pictures for this event!