Interview with MMA standout Zoila Frausto, who main events Combate Americas on Univision
Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto is a multitalented combat sports athlete. She is skilled in tae kwon do, Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu jitsu and kickboxing, making her a very dangerous adversary in mixed martial arts.
Now 35, this Fresno, California-born fighter from Mexican descent has brought her MMA abilities to Combate Americas.
Combate Americas announced its return to Fresno with another Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) extravaganza, live on television -- on Univision (12 a.m. ET/PT) and UDN (12 a.m. ET/9 p.m. PT) -- on Friday, Aug. 2 from Save Mart Center.
That’s very familiar terrain for Frausto (14-5), and in the main event, this flyweight (125 pounds) will square off with three-time Central American Judo champion Reina Cordoba (9-1).
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Priced from $22, tickets for the Combate Americas event are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.
“Fresno has become a phenomenal home for Combate Americas action, and we will be bringing another lineup filled with both established and rising stars to Save Mart Center on August 2, beginning with our main event between Zoila Frausto and Reina Cordoba,” Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren said in a release.
Zoila Frausto talks Combate Americas, main eventing, Reina Cordoba, women’s MMA, fighting styles and more.
Frausto’s father is a third-degree black belt in tae kwon do. Her sister is MMA fighter Stephanie Frausto.
Zoila Frausto talks MMA return, nickname, tae kwon do, soccer, her father, sister, Mexico and more.
Playing several sports growing up, Frausto graduated from Madera High School in 2002 and attended Fresno City College, where she competed in soccer. Her soccer career ended in college, and her combat sports career began.
She won the inaugural Bellator women’s title in the 115-pound division in 2010. She later fought in Muay Thai and kickboxing.
Frausto made her long-awaited return to MMA action -- as well as her promotional debut with Combate Americas — at Save Mart Center on February 22.
Fighting under MMA rules for the first time in three years, the former world champion -- who also competes professionally at a world-class level in kickboxing and Muay Thai -- came out of the gates blazing. She scored a first round (1:52) TKO (knee to the body) on fellow veteran Jaimee Nievera.
In addition to her accolades in Judo competition, Cordoba of San Jose, Costa Rica, is a two-time Pan American Sambo tournament champion and an aggressive-minded veteran who has earned eight of her nine professional career victories by way of (T)KO or submission.
The matchup with Frausto will mark Cordoba’s first start since May 4, 2017, when she submitted (guillotine choke) Alejandra Orozco in the second round (2:23).
Also on the main card
In the welterweight (170 pounds) co-main event, former Combate Americas reality television series contestant J.C. “The Leglock Monster” Llamas (8-7) will square off with rising star Joaquin Lopez (5-1).
In a featured bantamweight (135 pounds) battle, undefeated Isaiah “The Mexipino” Batin-Gonzalez (4-0) will collide with knockout artist Jesse Strader (4-1).
On the undercard
In the undercard, Adrian Guzman (4-1) of Parlier, California, will look to return to the win column after his hard-fought defeat at the hands of Jose “Froggy” Estrada on the April 26 Combate Americas card, in a 150-pound catchweight contest against Cesar “Cubby” Gonzales (1-3) of Vallejo, California.
Unbeaten, rising star Paul Elizondo (2-0) of Fresno will collide with Mike “Mean Phillapene” Tubera (0-0) of Ceres, California, in a flyweight matchup.
Jose “Stimatik” Avalos (3-2) of Parlier will face off with Trey “Bam” Branch (2-3) of Bakersfield at bantamweight.
Albert “Big Al” Gonzales (0-1) of Fresno will make his second Combate Americas start in a 180-pound catchweight fight against Havier Pedroza (0-1) of Visalia, California.
Brock Dias (0-0) of Visalia will make his professional debut against Carlos Figueroa (0-2) of Santa Rosa, California in a featherweight (145 pounds) scrap.
Austin “The Dynasty” Liu (0-0) of Fresno will also make his professional debut in a bantamweight tilt against Daniel Oseguera (0-1) of Modesto.
Doors at Save Mart Center will open at 6 p.m. local time on Aug. 23. The first preliminary bout will begin at 7 p.m.
About Combate Americas
Combate Americas is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise, rapidly becoming the number two sport after soccer, for Spanish speaking fans worldwide.
The Combate Americas franchise includes live event and original shoulder programming on some of the biggest television, OTT and digital platforms in Spanish and English, including Univision and Univision Deportes Network (UDN), DAZN, ESPN, GOL and Facebook Watch worldwide. The company also owns and operates a multi-platform media studio, La Jaula Studios.
Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren, also the co-founder/co-creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has been described by New York Magazine as “the marketing genius behind the UFC,” and Yahoo Sports has said he “knows more about the sport than just about anyone in it today.”
With an unprecedented and cutting edge product and a blue-chip ownership and management team, Combate Americas is poised to break new ground and bring about a new era in world championship level MMA competition.
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This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 4:14 PM.
