On December 14th Fight Club OC, Southern California’s premier combat sports show, closed out 2023 with 10 bouts to once again lay claim to being the best combat sports show in the southland. The action was swift, brutal, and bodacious, and it all took place from The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center in lovely Costa Mesa, CA!
Opening the night was Los Angeles’s Victor Slavinskyi 14-2-1 (7KOs) vs. Darel Harris 12-23-2 (7KOs) from Texas in a 8 round, super featherweight boxing match that was an excellent opener. Slavinkskyi dropped Harris early in the first round and it looked like it was going to be an early night. Harris was game, he survived, and his pesky style allowed him to hang on until the fourth round. Eventually, Slavinkskyi proved too much for Harris, and, after getting bombed in the fourth round, the referee waved the proceedings over.
Moving up to the super middleweights for bout number two, Samuel Arnold 9-0 5KOs from Dallas, went even up vs. Andres Martinez 4-0 (1KO) from Guinea in a boxing match scheduled for six rounds. These combatants engaged in a contest that was so ugly and foul plagued, that it even had Referee Jack Reiss (whose seen it all as the third man in the ring) shaking his head. Round after round was a carbon copy of the last in which both fighters loaded up, sometimes connected, but mostly this bout was a game of “push me pull you”. In the end, Arnold took a decision over six rounds.
Bout number three saw Camarillo’s Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas 23-2-1 (18KOs) take on Jose Marruffo 14-12-2 (2KOs) of Arizona in an 8 round super welterweight bout. Kavaliauskas gave a workmanlike performance as he pounded on Marruffo for the first 2 rounds. The bout moved into the third round and the “Mean Machine” turned it up and stopped his foe shortly after that.
Bout number four was a 4 round lightweight contest between Dan Hernandez 3-4 from Riverside against Parley Jessop 0-1 from Las Vegas. These boxers came out in the center of the ring and it was clear that Jessop was in over his head. Lacking a solid defense, Jessop caught most of the punches Hernandez threw, and ultimately got stopped and dropped in the first round of a game but outclassed effort.
Moving into MMA for bout number five, Daniel Park (3-0) from Los Angeles met Humberto Duarte 5-5 from Arizona in a 3 round, flyweight match. Park has a crowd pleasing style but tonight he had to be more technical against the game, “in your face” approach of Duarte. The bout ended up being a chess match over 3 rounds in which Park took a decision over Duarte.
After that, in a Tequila Mandala Young Champions bout, Riverside’s Nate Palencia (1-2) fought LA’s Dorian Mendez 2-0 in a scheduled 4 round super lightweight boxing match. Palencia loves to mix it up so this bout was punches in bunches from the jump. It turns out Mendez isn’t one to take a backwards step either, so these two fought in a phone-booth from the opening bell to the end. Ultimately, Mendez was busier, landed more, and out hustled the very game Palencia to take a 4 round decision.
For bout number seven, Las Vegas’s Rene Moreno (10-0 4KOs) battled Diulh Olguin 16-33-7 (10KOs) from Oak Hills in an entertaining 6 round scrap. These boxers engaged in a highly tactical contest over 6th rounds. When it started, it looked like there might be an upset in the offing as Olguin dropped Moreno, but that was not to be as Moreno boxed steadily and took a solid six round decision.
In the eighth bout, Garden Grove local Luke Santamaria 14-1-1 (7KOs) battled Las Vegas’s Cameron Krael 20-31-3 (7KOs) in a 6 round welterweight bout. Known for his toughness, Krael started off well in the first round by landing a right hand that appeared to stun Santamaria. However, Santamaria regrouped and started piling up rounds with more consistent aggression. Krael was offensive-minded in spurts, but he spent too much time in a defensive posture that ultimately cost him down the stretch. In the end, Santamaria won a six round decision going away.
With his only loss to the great Sergey Kovalev, Tervel Pulev 18-1 14KOs (brother of Kubrat) took on Dionardo Minor 6-4-2 (2KOs) in a 6 round heavyweight contest in bout number nine. Pulev was all smiles as he entered the ring against the game Minor. The bout was decently paced but neither guy ever exerted much control over the other. Down the stretch, Pulev was busier, landed slightly more, and that’s what got him the nod over 6 rounds.
Closing out the show in bout number ten, he’s battled Anthony Joshua, Wladimir Klitschko, and Derek Chisora, but longtime heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev 30-3 14KOs of Bulgaria was right at home at Fight Club OC when he took on Andrzej Wawrzyk 34-3 (2KOs) of Poland. These two, top boxers engaged a technical contest over 10 rounds that saw Pulev drop Wawrzyk in the 6th and 8th rounds. Overall, Pulev was more dominant but it seemed to a case of what Wawrzyk wasn’t during vs. what Pulev was. In the end, Pulev won a 10 round decision at Fight Club OC, the only show in the WORLD where a fighter from Poland and fighter from Bulgaria can meet in the ring in Orange County, Ca!
It was another night of sellout fights, solid action, and a fine end to 2023 from Fight Club OC! We return in 2024 on February 15th from The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center in lovely Costa Mesa, CA! Grab your tickets HERE! Do not delay as shows are currently selling out weeks before showtime because everyone knows this is where fights are guaranteed!