PARAMOUNT+ LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS

WITH A COMBATE GLOBAL PRE-SHOW AT 10:30 PM ET;

FIRST BOUT BEGINS AT 11 PM ET 

MAX BRETOS AND JULIANNA PEÑA

WILL CALL THE LIVE ACTION  

FEATURED MAIN CARD BOUTS:

MARCOS “EL TORO” LOPEZ VS. HEINRICH “RICKY SCRAPS” WASSMER

CAROLINE “TAZ” GALLARDO VS. ISIS “FIGHT QUEEN” VERBEEK

GUSTAVO NAVARRETE VS. ISMAEL ZAMORA

NEW YORK – July 6, 2021 – Combate Global today announced the complete Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) lineup for its premiere live event on Paramount+ on Friday, July 9.

Paramount+ live coverage will begin with a Combate Global pre-show at 10:30 p.m. ET/9:30 p.m. CT, and will continue with a five-bout fight card, beginning at 11:00 p.m. ET/10:00 p.m. CT.

Combate Global veteran play-by-play announcer and LAFC voice Max Bretos will call the action alongside UFC women’s superstar Julianna Peña.

“We have an awesome lineup of fights, and are excited to launch on Paramount+ and be able to show this new audience why MMA stands for Much More Action in Combate Global,” said Combate Global CEO Campbell McLaren.

Originally planned as the main event, a bout between reigning Combate Global featherweight (145 pounds) champion Bruno “Aquiles” Cannetti (9-6) of Buenos Aires, Argentina and Jean Marc “Kokito” Howell (13-5) of Aruba has been removed from the card as a result of the Argentinian government closing the country’s borders last week and prohibiting travel due to heightened COVID-19 protocols.

A flyweight (125 pounds) matchup between Marcos “El Toro” Lopez (5-3) and Heinrich “Ricky Scraps” Wassmer (6-5) has been added to the main card as a result of the Cannetti-Howell bout being scrapped.

Fighting out of Spokane, Wash., Lopez, 28, has earned all but one of his victories via submission, while the 31-year-old Wassmer of Los Angeles, Calif. has notched all but one of his wins via (T)KO or submission.

In a featured women’s strawweight (115 pounds) matchup, Caroline “Taz” Gallardo (4-3) will battle Isis “Fight Queen” Verbeek (2-1 MMA, 9-4 Muay Thai/kickboxing).

The 24-year-old Gallardo of Santiago, Chile by way of Chicago, Ill. will see action for the first time since she defeated Corina Herrera by way of unanimous decision on November 22, 2019, prior to the start of the pandemic.

Verbeek, a 26-year-old Muay Thai specialist from The Netherlands, is fighting out of Miami. She has posted back-to-back wins in a span of less than one month this year, most recently submitting Dana Yasiri Garcia with a rear-naked choke on April 2.

Another Muay Thai star, Gustavo Navarrete (0-0 MMA, 4-1 Muay Thai) of Quito, Ecuador by way of Las Vegas, Nev. will enter La Jaula for the first time against fellow professional MMA debut fighter and former top amateur prospect, Ismael Zamora (0-0) of Mexico City, Mexico in a bantamweight (135 pounds) contest.

In undercard action, Ramon “Wild Boy” Vizcarra (2-2) of Mexicali, B.C., Mexico will square off with Dany Gonzalez (2-2) of Miami at bantamweight.

In a third bantamweight affair on the card, “Slick” Rick Zelada (0-0) of Los Angeles and Justin Arteaga (0-0) of Miami will make their respective professional debuts against one another.