Combate Global announces return of 1-night, 8-man, $100,000 prize Copa Combate tournament
COMBATE GLOBAL today announced the return of the “COPA COMBATE, one-night, eight-man, $100,000 grand prize tournament, featuring fighters from eight different countries, in Miami on Friday, Dec. 15.
To earn the $100,000 grand prize, a fighter must defeat three consecutive opponents over the course of the one-night event, which is widely recognized as the toughest tournament in sports.
This year’s “COPA COMBATE” tournament will take place in the featherweight (145 pounds) division.
Also announced today were all eight 2023 “COPA COMBATE” tournament entrants – Ramiro “El Cachanilla” Jimenez (7-0), Manuel Exposito (10-1), Tommy “La Salsa” Garcia (7-2), Leonardo “Chimmy” Morales (13-9), Marlon “Deriko Siete” Gonzales (15-6-2), Nicolas “Nico” Barna (8-3), Pablo “El Mexicano” Burgos (5-2) and Jeremy Alba (1-0) – representing Mexico, Argentina, The Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Texas respectively.
“Only COMBATE GLOBAL offers MMA fans the ‘original recipe’ of the eight-man tournament,” said COMBATE GLOBAL CEO Campbell McLaren. “This ‘COPA’ is going to be ‘extra crispy’ too.”
The format for the tournament, as well as television programming details will be announced soon, as will the names of the fighters who will compete in tournament “alternate bouts”.
The December 15 event will mark the fifth “COPA COMBATE” in history and the first since 2021, after a hiatus last year due to the World Cup soccer tournament.
Past winners of the tournament, which launched in Cancun, Mexico in 2017, have hailed from Mexico, the U.S., Peru and Ireland.
Hailing from Mexicali, B.C., Mexico, the undefeated, 24-year-old Jimenez has been unstoppable in La Jaula, to date, earning six of his seven career victories via (T)KO or submission, all inside of the first round of action.
The 23-year-old Exposito of Alta Gracia, Cordoba, Argentina is a two-time regional MMA champion who holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and has notched all but one of his career wins, to date, by way of (T)KO or submission.
Garcia is a 26-year-old native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and a two-time freestyle wrestling medalist as well as a former champion of The Military Games in his country.
Garcia will enter “COPA COMBATE” and his first COMBATE GLOBAL event on a four-fight win streak.
Morales, 30 years of age, fights out of his native Managua, Nicaragua, and brings to “COPA COMBATE” more experience against high-caliber competition than any of his fellow tournament fighters.
The runner-up of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 3 competition reality television series, Morales holds black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Karate, and has faced off with some of the toughest adversaries in the world, most notably going the distance with superstar Yair “La Pantera” Rodriguez.
In his last COMBATE GLOBAL start, Morales showed off his extensive capabilities, scoring a thunderous TKO (punches) on previously unbeaten Chilean star Jose “Tiro Loco” Ferreira on September 2.
The 31-year-old Gonzales of Lima, Peru is the only fighter in this year’s eight-man field to have previous “COPA COMBATE” experience, having participated in the 2018 tournament in Fresno, Calif.
Gonzales, who lost his bid in the quarterfinal stage of the 2018 “COPA COMBATE” event to eventual tournament winner Andres “The Bullet” Quintana via unanimous decision, has re-dedicated himself to MMA in 2023 by moving into the Miami-based training center of former, multi-time world kickboxing champion and mentor, Luis “El Tigre” Castañeda.
Barna is a 27-year-old native of Montevideo, Uruguay with a black belt in kickboxing.
After struggling in his COMBATE GLOBAL debut, Barna rebounded in a local bout in Uruguay on November 18, dominating Nestor Machado for three rounds with repeated takedowns and ground control before walking away the winner of the fight by unanimous decision.
The 26-year-old Burgos of Santiago, Chile is an aggressive-minded striker who also holds a black belt in kickboxing and amassed a perfect record of 14-0 in amateur ranks of the sport.
In his last start on June 10, Burgos scored an impressive second round (2:27) submission of Argentina’s Cristian Gomez with a guillotine choke.
Alba of El Paso, Texas is a former high school state wrestling champion, who will represent his state in “COPA COMBATE” after receiving a wild card entry into the tournament by COMBATE GLOBAL.
Also the owner of a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Alba recorded his first professional MMA victory on August 4 by defeating Ricky Maynez in just 57 seconds by way of ground and pound.
