BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Markus Perez traveled from Sao Paolo, Brazil, and sent most of the crowd home from the 1stBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo., Sept. 8, utterly disappointed.
Perez (9-0) submitted Parker, Colo., native Ian Heinisch (8-1) 2:14 into the first round with a head and arm triangle.
“Dana White, this is for you,” Perez said, wearing the LFA’s middleweight title belt. “I’m here, I’m ready. It’s time.”
Perez is hoping the White, the UFC’s president, will sign him to a UFC contract.
Heinisch was a two-time Colorado state wrestling champion while at Ponderosa High School in Parker.
He was coming off an impressive submission victory of his own. But Saturday night belonged to Perez.
Well, Perez and Gilbert Smith.
In the co-main event, Gilbert Smith, who retired on the UFC reality series “The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption” when he left his gloves in the cage after losing and being eliminated from the show earlier this year, got his desire to fight one last time.
He wanted one more chance to walk into the cage with his team and walk out of the cage to the applause of family and friends.
LFA granted him that desire and Smith didn’t disappoint.
Smith (13-6) submitted Benjamin Smith (15-5) via guillotine choke at 4:16 in the second round.
After the win, he thanked all his coaches in the cage, acknowledged his gym and thanked his family.
Chris Gutierrez (11-3-1), a Factory X fighter who took the scrap on short-notice, won a split decision over Mario Israel (10-4) in a bantamweight fight (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Gutierrez’s leg kicks in the first round slowed down Israel, who landed some big shots but never found a rhythm.
Gutierrez also came close to scoring an armor submission after being taken down by Israel in the third round.
For just the second time in his pro career, Derek Brenon had to go the distance.
But the result was the same.
Brenon (6-0) remained perfect in his career, winning a unanimous decision (all three judges scored it 30-27) in the featherweight bout against Boima Karmo (4-3).
Brenon also went 7-0 in his amateur career and never went to the judges’ cards before turning pro.
The Factory X fighter, 27, was coming off a 24-second victory and looked poised to finish Karmo early in the first round. He twice appeared to have Koima in a deep rear-naked choke (he had it again in the third) but Koima fought it off and never tapped.
It was still a strong enough performance to win over the judges.
Brandon Royval (6-3), of Englewood, Colo., looked like he was in trouble. He’d just been hit in the face four consecutive times and went to the ground.
But quick as a flash, working off his back, Royal submitted Demetrius Wilson (5-2) via triangle choke in a flyweight bout in the second round.
A nonstop ground war between Maycee Barber (2-0) and Mallory Martin (1-2) went to the judges’ scorecards, with Barber coming out on top with a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
Easily the fight of the night up until this point.
Barber was comfortable working off her back, while Martin tried to take advantage from top position.
Barber had chances to win via armbar, arm triangle and rear-naked choke. She just couldn’t finish the fight.
Barber missed weight for the strawweight bout.
Jon Wyderko (3-1) used a thunderous left body kick to drop Juan Gonzalez (3-1) to his knees before finishing the fighter out of New Mexico in a lightweight bout.
Wyderko, from Aurora, Colo., landed lower kicks earlier in the fight then went to Gonzalez’s body. The sound echoed through the arena and a second later Gonzalez was on the ground and Wyderko was landing punches to stop the fight at 52 seconds of the second round.
In the only non-televised bout, Denver’s Youssef Zalal (1-0) won his pro debut in a featherweight bout. And on a three-hour notice, no less.
Fighting out of Factory X, Zalal avoided a rear-naked choke from Maurice Salazar (1-2) in the first round and landed a big right hook to end the round that looked to wobble Salazar.
That seemed to help Zalal find his range. He landed numerous shots in the second round, including several flying knees, blooding Salazar, from Johnstown, Colo.
Salazar was visibly exhausted, gasping for breath .
Zalal moved in for the finish, pounded Salazar until he fell to the mat, prompting the stoppage with just 19 seconds left in the second round.
MMA Colorado 