Henry Barahona stressed the importance of staying above the ground coming into the main event of Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts Series XXV versus Jess Martinez — and it proved to be critical — as Martinez downed his Albuquerque counterpart with a rear naked choke, 4 minutes and 9 seconds into the third and final round.
After Barahona tapped out, the frustration set in instantly as he slammed down his fist on the mat of the ring inside the packed Tewa Grand Ballroom at the Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino on the eve of June 30.
He called it the “most important fight of his career,” in a video interview prior, but Barahona fell to 2-3, while the 24-year-old Martinez improved to 4-0 in his professional career.
Even with the submission victory, Martinez was frustrated backstage after the win and had to be calmed down and relaxed by members of his team. After controlling his emotions, he elaborated on why he was feeling unsatisfied.
“I’m just a little flustered,” Martinez said. “I was expecting a better performance out of myself. I won so I can’t complain, I just always expect a lot out of myself. I hate to sound crazy, but that’s just how I am.”
Martinez said he knew Barahona would provide a tough challenge and now he knows where improvements must be made.
“I don’t like just winning, I want to dominate,” Martinez said. “This fight makes me realize that I have to work that much harder though. I’m glad I finished him, it’s way better than going to the cards (judges).”
There were two other professional fights on the card. Josh Moreno out of Albuquerque improved to 4-0, defeating Arizona’s Ryan Kelly by submission guillotine choke in the second round.
The fight was back-and-forth, with each landing consistent strikes, but Moreno took control in the second round after an uppercut dropped Kelly to set up the guillotine choke.
Denver’s Jorge Martinez won his professional debut by outlasting Jesse Tafoya from Albuquerque, who was fighting out of Jackson/Wink.
Jorge Martinez rebounded strongly after Tafoya seized the momentum in the first round by controlling the ground game. Jorge Martinez was held on the mat for a majority of the round.
In round No. 2, he ended the fight at the 1:09 mark, by capitalizing on a cartwheel kick, which set up his standing guillotine submission.
“I came out in the second round and wanted to surprise him,” Jorge Martinez said. “I tried to set (up) that cartwheel kick and at first, I didn’t think I landed it. Once I saw him get dropped, I just smell blood and rushed to it.”
With the victory, Jorge Martinez revenged his 2015 defeat to Tafoya (by triangle choke) when both fighters were still amateurs.
Santa Fe fighter makes family proud
Santa Fe’s Josiah Reyes took on Andre Mitchell out of Rio Rancho in the main event of the amateur card.
Reyes not only held the advantage of the hometown crowd, but also 11 years in age on Mitchell, who is just 19 years old.
Reyes looked superior from the onset, quickly gaining momentum in the latter part of the first round.
It carried over to the second, which only lasted 24 seconds after Reyes won by technical knockout due to knees and strikes on the defenseless Mitchell.
“My mom came all the way from Denver and my brother flew out from Alabama,” Reyes said. “I said, ‘I got to frickin’ make ‘em proud.’ I can’t think them enough, It’s what made me so tough because I had to fight off my older brothers all the time.”
Reyes improved to 3-1 while Mitchell’s record dropped 3-2.
Final results
The rest of the amateur results included: Brianne Jhun defeated Jessica Pitts by decision in round No. 3; Dan Argueta defeated Jesse Sanders by decision in round No. 3; Jesse Moorhouse defeated Franky Renteria by submission (arm bar) in round No. 2; Nate Cullison defeated Charles Gillespie by KO (left cross); Kevin Moore defeated Zacarias Rodriguez by decision in round No. 3 and Marcus Ortega defeated Daniel Martinez by submission (standing guillotine choke) in round No. 1.