Despite suffering from broken ribs and on just three weeks notice, Jewish-Israeli fighter Eli “The Hype Israel” Barzilay earned a knockout victory at LFA 188 in Arizona last week, marking the fifth professional win in a previously undefeated mixed martial arts career.
LFA (Legacy Fighting Alliance) is a Texas-based MMA promotion company.
talk Jerusalem PostBarziley said his bout with 30-year-old American Cristobal Renteria was hastily arranged just a few weeks before the tournament after his original opponent, an unbeaten Muslim fighter from Tajikistan, withdrew, citing “medical” reasons.
Barzilay said he was skeptical of his opponent's claims, adding that he hasn't presented evidence of any health issues.
But the 5-foot-10, 23-year-old Barzilai from Herzliya said he too had a rib injury going into the match.
“I felt the injury during the first takedown of the fight. Now I have broken ribs.”
However, this didn't stop him from fighting, and it didn't stop Renteria from using his explosive power to charge forward at the start of the fight.
Renteria had the upper hand for the first 2 minutes, 22 seconds of the bout. He was able to take Barzilai down multiple times, slipping through his guard and landing multiple jabs.
After a third takedown and a brief grapple afterwards, Renteria picked up the younger Israeli and slammed him down for the fourth and final takedown of the bout.
Barzilley noted that Renteria's strong start was taken into consideration in preparing for the game.
“Chris Renteria is a strong fighter and he's well known for the way he starts fights. He starts his fights at a high pace and he's explosive,” Barzilley said. “So my game plan from the beginning was to get up and fight at a high pace and wear him down and wear him down.”
As the two separated again, one of the commentators remarked that Barzilai had never yet seen an attack like the one Renteria unleashed in his professional career.
“And now he knows, he knows what's going to happen,” added another commentator.
Before the latter commentator had finished his speech, the match underwent a dramatic change.
Barzilay unleashed a powerful combination that began with a right uppercut followed by a left uppercut, sending his opponent staggering.
Renteria tried to stop Barzilai with a jab, but the Israeli fighter got underneath, got to his feet and landed a precise left hook to the American's jaw.
As Renteria stumbled back, Barzilay launched an attack with his fist aimed at his face.
Barzilai closed the gap quickly, driving a knee into his opponent's stomach and breaking Renteria's guard before resuming his barrage of blows.
Ten seconds later, Renteria's back was back against the side of the cage.
Barzilay landed another hook combination on his opponent's jaw, all of which landed with confidence.
After the fourth round, Renteria collapsed and the referee stopped the bout.
Hostages and Grandfather's Victory
Afterwards, after the referee declared the bout a knockout victory, Barzilai walked in front of the cameras and declared himself the winner.
“To all the hostages, this is my gift to you. And also to my grandfather.”
Barzilay told The Post that his grandfather died shortly after flying from Israel to Las Vegas a few months before the training.
He added that he felt an obligation to speak out on behalf of the hostages – in fact, he had attended the same school as former hostages Mia and Itai Regev, and had had a chance to speak with them a few days after their release.
Another former classmate remains a hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, he said.
When asked how the war has changed him as a professional fighter, the 23-year-old from Herzliya replied: “The only thing that has changed is that I now have more motivation and reasons to fight. Before I was only fighting for myself and my family. Now I'm fighting for my country.”
He is also inspired by his fans who message him and let him know they inspire him.
“People say to me, 'You have no idea how much courage you give us Jews and the people of Israel to fight back. It's inspiring to see Jewish fighters like you.'
“Messages like that mean everything to me,” Barzilay added.
“I feel like I'm not just fighting for my country, but for Jewish people all over the world.”
To all the people who have supported him along the way, Barzilay says anything he can do to serve his people means a lot to him.
After this latest victory in the Octagon, Barzilai is hoping to earn a call-up to the world's leading mixed martial arts promoter, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
“I want to do everything I can to become world champion,” Barzilai said, adding that he still has work to do to reach that goal. “In a few years, [do that]”It takes experience and time, but I believe it can be done. I can make history.”
