Nico Echeverry Grinds Down Kenn Glenn in Fury FC 47 Headliner

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It took a full 15 minutes of hard work, but Nico Echeverry is back on track to contend for the Fury Fighting Championship belt he once owned.

In the main event of Fury FC 47 on Sunday, former Fury lightweight champ Echeverry took a clear unanimous decision over Kenn Glenn, showcasing his superiority in all phases and gaining momentum as the fight went on. For most of the first round, Echeverry elected to keep the fight standing, flashing a crisp jab and keeping the shorter Glenn at bay with well-timed kicks to the legs and body. Round 2 saw the former champ turn to his ground game, taking Glenn down repeatedly and advancing to dominant positions. In the final round, perhaps sensing his opponent was tiring, Echeverry turned up the aggression, grounding Glenn once again, taking his back and working briefly for a choke. Glenn was game throughout, and never in serious danger of being finished even in Round 3, but the lopsided final frame put the stamp on an increasingly one-sided fight. The judges saw it the same way, awarding the fight to Echeverry by unanimous 30-27 scores.

The win potentially puts the 30-year-old Echeverry (10-4; 7-3 Fury) in line for a rematch with Le'ville Simpson, who defeated him by second-round knockout for the then-vacant lightweight title at Fury FC 45 in April. Glenn falls to 9-7 overall and has dropped two straight since shocking Will Morris in his short-notice promotional debut, also at Fury FC 45.

Chavez Outlasts Macario

In the co-main event, Colorado’s Edwin Chavez defeated Gabriel Macario in a closely contested featherweight scrap. Macario appeared to get the better of a razor-close first round with his wrestling and superiority in the numerous ground scrambles. In the final two rounds, Chavez asserted his greater reach and sharper boxing, and as Macario slowed in the final round, Chavez proved willing to bring the fight to the ground as well. All three rounds were highly competitive, but the judges were unanimous in scoring the fight 29-28 for Chavez, who moves to 5-1 (2-0 Fury) and puts his first career defeat, against Cheyden Leialoha at LFA 106 in April, behind him. Macario (6-5; 1-3 Fury) has now dropped two straight.

Esteves Strangles Hillail

Lorram Esteves (3-1; 1-0 Fury) overcame a partisan crowd and a near-knockout to choke out Omar Hillail (3-2; 0-2 Fury) in the second round of their featherweight attraction. Esteves, a 27-year-old Brazilian by way of San Antonio, weathered a storm in the first round as Hillail was the more aggressive man on the feet as well as on the ground. The second round began even worse for Esteves, as “The Gaza Kid” rocked him badly with a punch in the opening seconds, then followed with a head kick and flurries of punches, looking for the finish. Esteves recovered and jumped to guard with an arm-in guillotine, from which Hillail escaped. Esteves tried again moments later, this time with a no-arm, high-elbow guillotine. The position was not ideal, as Hillail landed in side control, but such was the squeeze of the Ohana Academy grappler that Hillail was forced to tap out anyway, spurring referee Joe Soliz into action at 3:27.

Caballero Turns Aside Jones

Fighting for the first time since November 2019, Peter Caballero (7-4; 3-0 Fury) was just a little bit too big, too strong, too quick and too good everywhere for Casey Jones (7-6; 7-5 Fury) in their featherweight contest. Jones, who typically fights at bantamweight, was tough and extremely game, but had difficulty navigating Caballero’s reach, and even greater problems getting back up when taken down. The fight was highly competitive until the final round, when Caballero once again grounded Jones, then took his back and spent much of the round in control. Caballero was working for a rear-naked choke as time expired, and while he was never especially close to finishing, it was more than enough to convince the judges, who turned in scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of the Corpus Christi native.

Heffernan Makes Triumphant Return

Returning a 23-month layoff caused by — among other things — an accidental gunshot wound to the arm, Jake Heffernan (8-2; 6-0 Fury) made quite a statement, taking a dominant unanimous decision over RFA and Bellator MMA veteran Justin Linn (7-6) in their featherweight main card matchup. Heffernan’s advantages in the striking and especially the grappling were in evidence from the middle of Round 1, as he spent much of the fight controlling Linn and advancing to dominant positions. By the third round, an additional advantage — cardio — came into play, and an already one-sided fight turned into a rout. Heffernan took back control, then mount, and was working for a submission as time expired. The aptly nicknamed “Grinder” was rewarded for his efforts with 30-27, 30-27 and one 30-26 scorecard. The victory ends not only Heffernan’s long absence but also the first losing streak of his career, and vaults him immediately back into the Fury featherweight title picture. Linn, on the other hand, is in freefall, having lost five straight after opening his career 7-1, though all five losses have been against top-level competition.

Guzman Throttles Garza

W4R Training Center lightweight prospect Santiago Guzman (2-2; 1-1 Fury) needed less than half a round to dispatch Paul Garza (2-3; 1-2 Fury), showing off some down-and-dirty work in the clinch — not in any rule-breaking sense — before finishing things with clinical efficiency on the ground. Early on, Santiago grabbed a collar tie, then mugged Garza with elbows and uppercuts before dragging him to the canvas at the base of the fence. From there, “The Scorpion King” quickly took Garza’s back and locked up a rear-naked choke. After a few desperation punches over the shoulder, Garza tapped out at 2:08 of Round 1, prompting the intervention from referee Jeff Rexroad.

Moreno Blasts Everett

One of Texas’ brightest amateur prospects made a successful transition to the ranks of the professionals, as 23-year-old knockout artist Isaac Moreno (1-0; 1-0 Fury) punched out Brexton Everett (1-1; 0-1 Fury) in the second round of the welterweight main card opener. That is not to say that “Prime Time” faced no adversity along the way; Everett came forward willingly in the first round, throwing with no apparent regard for the size, speed and power of Moreno. Everett dropped Moreno with an overhand right, then pounced, looking for a guillotine choke, but Moreno recovered quickly and exploded back to his feet. Everett remained right in Moreno’s face, but Moreno’s superior size and power began to tell. Early in Round 2, Moreno caught a kick, shoved Everett to the ground and pummeled him with punches. Everett survived long enough to return to his feet, but the barrage of punches never stopped, and referee Joe Soliz intervened to stop the mauling at 2:04 of the round.

Prelims: Hickman Smashes Pantoja

On the preliminary card: Gracie Barra Woodlands lightweight Taylor Hickman (2-0) ground-and-pounded Johnny Pantoja (1-4) for a TKO win at 2:25 of the first round; Factory X prospect Marquel Mederos (1-0) lanced Jonathon Moskowitz (0-1) with a one-punch KO at 1:05 of Round 2 in a battle of debuting lightweights; Washington-based light heavyweight Matt Walters (1-0) beat down Jimmy Lugo (1-2) with ground strikes at 1:07 of the second round; and in the only heavyweight bout of the afternoon, Richard Luis (3-3) pummeled Ricardo Ferreira Evangelista (1-1) into tapping to strikes in the second round.