Premier Fight Series Amateur 3 Recap + Photo Gallery

Premier Fight Series put on their third amateur show at the Midland Center on October 24. The card featured 9 fights, including a female fight, and a title fight. Outside of the intermissions, the card was action packed from the opening bell to the final bell.

The opening fight was Michael Andrews, taking on Richard Berry, in his MMA debut. Andrews displayed sharp, crisp striking, to control the fight. Berry showed heart and toughness, but couldn’t handle the striking of Andrews. In the second round, Andrews landed a big right hand that dropped Berry, jumped on him with a few more punches, then the ref stepped in. The next fight was a back and forth scrap between Raul Coy and Carlos Govea. Right off the bat, Coy comes out and lands a head kick on Govea. Coy’s toes landed most on Govea’s face, so it didn’t do much damage. Govea was able to get the early takedowns and cause damage on the ground, while Coy had a solid place on the feet. Coy would mix it up with clenches, and takedowns of his own, while Govea looked for submissions on the bottom. The fight would go to the judges, and Coy would earn the split decision victory.

The third fight of the night saw Ricardo Canales and Joe Villalva punch and kick each other, a lot. Canales was able to get a good pace going, while Villalva looked to counter, but was unable to find his range. While using good boxing and footwork, Canales was able to get ahead on points. Canales slowed down and Villalva found his rhythm, but too little, too late. Canales earned the unanimous decision win. In the following fight, Mercedes Rios and Mareesa Garcia was the featured women’s fight on the card. Rios was looking to keep the fight on the feet against Garcia, but Garcia’s grappling was too much. At one point, Rios was able to reverse the position and gain top position. In the third round, Garcia pushed the pace on the feet, secured the takedown, and finally finished the fight on the ground with strikes.

The rest of the fights all ended with finishes. Angel Delgado and Arthur Ellison was an entertaining fight while it lasted. Delgado had the crisper striking and was landing at will, then it seemed as either a punch or head butt dropped Delgado to the canvas. He was able to quickly recover and retake control of the fight. Delgado would get the TKO win in the second round. Two big middle weights displayed their jiu-jitsu in the sixth fight of the night. Erik Alaniz took the back of Chris Weaver in the first round, but Weaver was able to escape a rear-naked choke, and the round. Alaniz wouldn’t make the same mistakes in the second, and finally able to finish the RNC. Another featured fight, between the hometown fighter, Jorddy Villegas, and Lubbock’s Garrett Howell, left the fans in shock and silence. Howell looked to display all of his skills against Villegas. Howell attempted a takedown, but Villegas grabbed the fence. The ref did the right thing, and didn’t allow Villegas to get a dominate position; he would reset them on the feet. Villegas was trying to lock in a guillotine choke, but Howell was able to land a trip and get the fight to the mat. Howell was able to land a double ankle grab pull, some ground and pound, then locked in a tight triangle choke. The crowd was stunned to see their fighter get submitted in the first round.

The co-main event saw Navy veteran Frankie Cavazos, out work Matt Marin. Cavazos looked to finish the fight in the first round with ground and pound, but Marin was able to survive. Marin never found his rhythm in the fight, and couldn’t handle the constant pressure of Cavazos forward pace. Cavasos landed some big body shots that dropped Marin, and after a few more shots, the fight was stopped.

The main event between Abner Rico and Peter Bouton was set to be a title fight. But after Bouton came in six pounds over the weight limit, he would not have won the title with a win. Rico made the weight, and eventually would win the fight. Rico’s boxing was the game changer in this fight. Bouton tried to use his leg kicks to slow Rico down, but there was absolutely no slowing him down. After the first round, Bouton’s nose was busted up, and after the second round he had a cut over his right eye. The ref would check out the injuries, but let the fight continue. In the third round, Bouton couldn’t keep from getting his face punched, and the ref mercifully stepped in and stopped the fight. Abner Rico would earn the TKO win, and also become the first PFS amateur welterweight champion; this was all while giving Peter Bouton a crimson mask.

Fight Night Award

FOTN – Abner Rico and Peter Bouton
KOTN – Frankie Cavasos
SOTN – Garrett Howell

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