That’s what it’s all about in Houston MMA. Coupled with some of Charlie Sheen’s most golden quotes from the past week on the subject of WINNING, I’d like to share with you this Top 10 List of Houston Fighter Warlocks with Tiger Blood running though their veins and Adonis DNA!

1 – “I got tiger blood, man. My brain…fires in a way that is – I don’t know, maybe not from this particular terrestrial realm.”

1. “EL JAGUAR” JON KIRK – The man’s been fighting long before most of the city even knew what MMA was. He cut his teeth in the sport before gloves were even an option. Kirk’s nickname may be “El Jaguar” but the man’s definitely got that tiger DNA. Want proof? Look at him levitate in the shot above. That’s got stage-4 Warlock written all over it.

2 – “I am on a drug. It’s called Charlie Sheen. It’s not available because if you try it, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body.”

2. RICARDO “HITMAN” TALAVERA - Did you SEE his fight Jeff Rexroad this past January at Legacy? He sure likes to take a licking and keep on ticking. Seriously, I’ve rarely seen this man smile but he actually flashed one while battered and bruised right after that Rexroad bout. Tiger blood run through his veins…. he always likes the taste of his own blood as well.

3 – “”I’m tired of pretending I’m not a total bitchin’ rock star from Mars, and people can’t figure me out; they can’t process me. I don’t expect them to. You can’t process me with a normal brain.”

3. CODY PHILLIPS - What kind of fighter duct-tapes his mouth at weigh-ins like some kind of violence-starved lunatic? Cody Phillips, Legacy Amateur 155 champion, that’s who. This guy likes to explode and bring violence in his fights, yet deals with everything from luxury automobiles to high-end jewels when he’s not in the cage. And that’s on top of having a bitchin’ hot Goddess fiancée. This guy might be ready to become Houston’s MMA version of Ric Flair as a stylin`, profilin`, limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin` n` dealin` son of a gun! And that’s got WINNING written all over it.

4 – “I’m bi-winning. I win here and I win there. Now what?”

4. JORGE “MACACO” PATINO – I don’t know about you guys but I’ll give him this spot strictly on the merit of him wearing those bright-blue short shorts to take on Hector Munoz at Grappler’s World War. You have got to be a serious warlock-level O.G. to pull that off, and that’s what this Chute-Boxe trained old school killer is. He’ll be making his Texas return to the cage against Joe Christopher on April 9th.

5 – “I’m sorry, man, but I’ve got magic. I’ve got poetry in my fingertips. Most of the time — and this includes naps — I’m an F-18, bro. And I will destroy you in the air. I will deploy my ordinance to the ground.”

5. BRIAN MELANCON – This guy literally told me in our interview that he was spitting up blood and having his kidney fail on him so he could make 155 after walking around at over 200. Then he goes out there trying to take people’s heads clean off, literally pulling night sticks out of the air to beat his opponents with as he did in the photo above. If that doesn’t say tiger blood and Adonis DNA, I don’t know what else to tell you.

6 – “Women are not to be hit, they’re to be hugged and caressed.”

6. ANTONIO “KING KONG” FLORES – For a welterweight fighter, this guy they call King Kong sure hits like a heavyweight. I’m putting him in here for that reason and also many other reasons based on stories from us hanging out back in the day. I won’t divulge those crazy times on this website since there might be kids reading and we’re old and calmed down now. Let’s just say the run we were on made Sinatra, Flynn, Jagger, and Richards look like droopy-eyed, armless children.

7 – “I just don’t do it. I will not believe that if I do something then I have to follow a certain path because it was written for normal people. People who aren’t special. People who don’t have tiger blood and Adonis DNA.”

7. JUSTIN REISWERG – Who else can come back after taking two-years off to tell the former champion they are going to go out there and finish them, then go out and actually do it? Only other warlocks, that’s who. This guy should have big things coming and he ain’t scared to talk about it.

8 – “I think the honesty not only shines through in my work, but also my personal life. And I get in trouble for being honest. I’m extremely old-fashioned. I’m a nobleman. I’m chivalrous.”

8. DERRICK “THE BLACK BEAST” LEWIS - You could give this guy the microphone, turn that sommabitch all the way up, and have him yell to the crowd but there would STILL be somebody in the first row that couldn’t hear him. That’s how soft-spoken this gentle giant is. But if you’re across the cage from him on fight night, I feel sorry for you. They don’t call him the Black Beast for no reason. Like the picture above, he’s got the hulk smash and a few more painful ass moves in his repertoire courtesy of the tiger blood. Rumor has it that he’s got some top secret fight in the works for the desserts of West Texas against an experienced opponent soon so stay tuned.

9 – “I probably took more drugs than anyone could survive. I was banging seven-gram rocks, because that’s how I roll. I have one speed, I have one gear: Go.”

9. MIKE “THE GREEK” BRONZOULIS –  Like he said in our interview, “The Greek” loves to beat people viciously. Back in the days of Greeks and Romans, they actually used to throw tigers in the arena and have them eat gladiators alive. Well this guy’s ancestors probably ate some of those tigers for dinner after combat, therefore putting tiger blood DNA in their bloodline for the rest of eternity. For this guy Mike B, it may have more to do with ground-and-pound than pounding rocks but he also has that one gear, GO! He’s been ruthless in his fight career, beating people up to become a Legacy champion.

10  - “Blame the studio for giving me this much dough knowing who they were giving it to.”

10. “HURRICANE” IKE VILLANUEVA - What other fighter would get on the microphone and tell crowd and everybody else, “Get on my bandwagon!” It’s Hurricane season out here year round in Texas as this IXFA champ tears the roof off every time he fights, then goes around and tells people he told them so! Straight from Ike, we have word that they’re working on a possible matchup for him to take on Robert Villegas for the Legacy 205 title. Could he be the first to hold the two promotions’ title belts at one time? That’s some warlock ish right there!

Houston MMA – YOU are battle-tested bayonets. Do NOT allow defeat to be an option. BRING IT!

About Mike Calimbas

Mike Calimbas is a mainstay within the Texas MMA and Grappling scene and a frequent contributor to TXMMA.com and other publications, online and print, as writer, photographer, and analyst. To contact Mike for any reason, feel free to add him to your network through the Facebook and Twitter links directly below. Also, follow along on Twitter via @TXMMAfeed (#MMA) and @mikecalimbas (everything else)!

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