A knockout from Peru is getting noticed globally…
Fusion FC, an MMA promotion based out of Peru, held their 27th event last night. The show’s main event featured Rudy Gavidia taking on Vincente “El Cemento” Vargas for the FFC interim featherweight championship.
With TUF Latin America and promotions like Fusion FC, MMA is gaining popularity in the country. Rudy Gavidia’s highlight reel knockout from last night won’t hurt either. He may have put himself on the radar of a few larger organizations as well.
A Peruvian UFC Champion?
The most notable fighter currently representing Peru in the octagon is Valentina Shevchenko. Granted, Shevchenko was born in Krygyzstan, and is not easily confused for a Peruvian. She walks to the cage draped in a Peruvian flag however, and has spent the last 9 years living in the country.
Shevchenko explained her decision to leave her home and live in Peru full-time to Fox Sports Latino:
“When we would travel, fighting all over the world, we visited Peru,” Shevchenko said, “When my team saw that Peruvians were interested in learning Muay Thai, we started to teach classes and seminars. We decided to stay and live in Peru. It’s a beautiful country because it has wonderful scenery, ocean, nature and everything that is great for training.”
By the time she moved to Peru, Shevchenko was already 7-0 in MMA, having had her first bout when she was only 15. She was also a multi-time muay thai and kickboxing world champion.
Since her UFC debut in 2015, she has won 3 of 4. Her only loss was to current bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes.
Fusion Fighting Championship Peru
While Shevchenko looks to bring a UFC championship title back to the country, the Fusion FC promotion is looking to build the sport there. The promotion, which is not to be confused with a European promotion by the same name, has been putting on fights for over 5 years now.
Their featherweight division might very well have produced two top prospects coming out of South America. The first is Humberto Bandenay, a 22-year old who already has 17 pro fights and a 13-4 record. An interim champion only needed to be declared when Bandenay signed with California’s King of the Cage promotion. He won his first bout for them on May 6th 2017, submitting his opponent in the 1st round.
The other featherweight prospect coming out of Peru is Rudy Gavidia, who won the FFC interim featherweight championship last night in epic fashion.
Rudy Gavidia vs. Vincente “El Cemento” Vargas
Peruvian MMA seems to be more prone to submissions than in other countries. Amazingly, heading into the bout between Vargas and Gavidia, 7 of the 9 fights that night had ended via submission.
There had only been one other knockout that night, but the main event would produce one of the most highlight reel worthy KOs of 2017 so far.
The Fusion FC Twitter account posted video of the knockout earlier this morning:
Ayer en Fusion FC 27, Rudy Gavidia gano con un KO terrible ante Vicente Vargas!! pic.twitter.com/DzwEyyaGsX
— Barrele la pierna (@Barrelelapierna) May 25, 2017
Gavidia, who lost his first 2 fights to start his career, has since been on a 7-fight win streak. A win in this fashion is sure to turn some heads, and get him offers from other fight promotions as well.
