By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
On May 31, the Texas Fight League (TFL) MMA organization made its return to South Padre Island Convention Center as it kicked off its TFL4: Return to Padre event. The rowdy crowd in attendance
was treated to eleven exciting fights, including Port Isabel’s own Robert Maldonado Main Event bout.
Fighting in the 145lb division, Maldonado entered the ring with a 2-1 record while his opponent, Samuel De Los Santos (San Antonio, TX) was sporting a 3-2 record. On the line was the TFL EMC “El Mas Chingon” belt.
As the bell signaled the start of the fight, both fighters came out swinging. During the exchange, De Los Santos managed to stun Maldonado and then took him down to the mat. Maldonado got back on his feet, but
De Los Santos had another takedown. Once back on their feet, Maldonado started to put the pressure with punches and kicks in the last minute of the round.
As round 2 got underway, Maldonado continued where he left off with a series of strikes. De Los Santos was unable to match Maldonado’s output and went into the clinch. The fighters separated, but De Los Santos
quickly went in for the takedown once again and succeeded this time. The fighters spent the final minutes on the mat in what looked like an even fight.
In the third and final round, Maldonado went back on the offense with strikes while defending against De Los Santos’ takedown attempts. De Los Santos pinned Maldonado on the fence, but didn’t have the energy to
take him down. Maldonado kept on the pressure, until De Los Santos caught him off balance and took him down with 1:30 showing on the clock. Once back on their feet, Maldonado’s relentless pressure had De
Los Santos backpedaling until the bell signaled the end of the round.
One judge scored it 29-28 Maldonado, a second judge had it 29-28 for De Los Santos, while the third judge had it 28-28, therefore, a split draw.
Asked to give his thoughts after the bout, Maldonado stated De Los Santos was the best fighter he has fought so far and gave him a lot of credit, but believed if it had come down to “who had the biggest heart”, he
should’ve won.
Both fighters also said they were willing to do a rematch, to which promoter Estilo Solis stated, “We’re gonna run it back, same belt, but five rounds this time”, sometime in August.
In the co-main event, Fabian Granja defeated Ian Gonzalez via a unanimous decision.
Other results were:
Damien Sierra defeated Ivan Saldana in round 1 via armbar submission, 135lbs.
Christian Munguia defeating Ricardo Gutierrez in a 145lb kickboxing match.
Eric Gonzalez defeated Brandon Rodriguez in round 1 via an armbar submission, 125lbs.
Abner Castro defeated Michael Moylan in round 1 via a rear-naked choke, 130lbs.
Ezekiel Rodriguez defeated Robert Benard via unanimous decision, 155lbs.
Sergio Martinez defeated Jhalil Simpson via a referee stoppage in round 1.
Daniel Moreno defeated Kyle Cahill via a rear-naked choke, 265lbs.
In the only women’s kickboxing bout, Cindy Pilosi beat Marina Robles via a split decision, 105lbs.
Robert Sauceda defeated David Leon via unanimous decision. 135lbs.
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