XKO 21 Preview – Pecero vs. Obregon featured in main event

By TXMMA Staff
 

Xtreme Knockout’s first event of 2014 hits XKO Arena on January 18^th

 
ARLINGTON, TX, January 7, 2014 – Xtreme Knockout’s first professional fight card of the year is on tap with XKO 21 happening at the XKO Arena (The GYM) on Saturday, January 18^th. The card is slated for 10 fights at the time of this writing and it should be another good one for North Texas fight fans with some very intriguing fights for this latest pro MMA event in Arlington.

The XKO 21 main event features Corpus Christi native Chris Pecero (10-5) taking on DFW native Javier Obregon (6-7) in a 150 lbs. catchweight bout. The South Texas based Chris Pecero currently holds the XKO featherweight title while, ironically enough, the North Texas based Javier Obregon hold the same title for the South Texas-based STFC promotion. There aren’t any titles on the line at XKO 21 but this bout does have a special feel to it considering two champions will collide. Pecero has the momentum heading ino the bout with two consecutive TKO victories (both in the Legacy FC promotion) coming in while Obregon will look to erase the stigma of two defeats in his last two fights since winning a split decision over David Fuentes.

The co-main event features East Texas based XKO veteran Josh Foster coming back to XKO and looking to replicate his first round TKO win over James Hall at XKO 20. This time he takes on Allen Nelson, an undefeated prospect who has two finishes of his own as a pro so far, both coming in impressively in under 20 seconds.

There are of course some other prospects on this card are worth keeping an eye on as well.

Fighting out of Chop Shop MMA in Greenville, Stephen Banaszak (2-1) first made a name for himself as an amateur by posting an 8-1 record with all of his wins by submission. He suffered a setback in his first fight as a pro but has since gone on to win two straight, most recently knocking on Mario Pinales with a knee in only 9 seconds at XKO 19 en route to a finalist nomination in the 2013 TXMMA Awards. He’ll be returning against a tough opponent in this one as he takes on longtime vet Brad Mitchell. Despite being 15 years his opponents’ senior, Mitchell posted a stellar amateur career of his own and has wins over XKO champs Steven Peterson and Chris Pecero since turning pro in 2010 and should definitely prove to be the kind of test that will tell where Banaszak’s MMA prospects are at heading into the rest of 2014. Check out the updated XKO 21 fight card below and stay tuned to TXMMA.com for more heading up to January 18^th in Arlington.

XKO 21 – Updated Fight Card (Subject to change)

• 150 lbs.: Chris Pecero (10-5) vs. Javier Obregon (6-7)
• 265 lbs.: Josh Foster (7-4) vs. Allen Nelson (2-0)
• 145 lbs.: Stephen Banaszak (3-1) vs. Brad Mitchell (3-1)
• 145 lbs.: Jaime Anaya (1-2) vs. Cody Walker (2-1)
• 170 lbs.: Kolby Adams (1-2) vs. Cane Caldwell (0-0)
• 155 lbs.: Delis Cuba Borges (0-0) vs. Ian Hudgens (0-0)
• 155 lbs.: Moises Diaz (3-6) vs. Andrew Sosa (2-5)
• 170 lbs.: Eugene Davis (0-0) vs. Ramon Jackson (0-0)
• 135 lbs.: Kashiff Solarin (4-6) vs. Kyle Hessler (1-0)
• 185 lbs.: Brian Cheatham (0-1) vs. Tim Stephenson (1-1)