HEBER – Mixed martial arts is returning to the Imperial Valley.
It's been nearly seven years since the Imperial Valley last hosted an officially sanctioned mixed martial arts (MMA) bout, but MMA is set to return to the valley in a big way on Aug. 24, according to recently licensed MMA promoter Jason Heisel.
The California Mixed Martial Arts Association (CAMO)-sanctioned Desert Fighting Championships event for amateur mixed martial artists from around the state will be held here at the Prestige Events Center on Saturday, August 24th.
This will be the inaugural event for Desert Fighting Championships, a local mixed martial arts organization Hisel started to “bring more events to the Valley.”
According to Prestige manager Jason Heisel, the event is still being organized and the fight card is fully booked, but the main event bout between mixed martial artists Trevon “Stubbs” Ashley from Oceanside, Southern California, and Christopher London from North Hollywood is already worth seeing live.
Additionally, Mexican mixed martial artist Efrain Escudero, winner of Season 8 of Spike TV's “The Ultimate Fighter,” will be appearing as a special guest at the event. According to ESPN.com, Escudero is a welterweight fighter from San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico, whose catchphrase is “Hecho en Mexico,” which means Made in Mexico in English.
This will be the inaugural event for the Desert Fighting Championship (DFC), a local mixed martial arts organization Hisel started to “bring more events to the Valley.”
“We're going to do it old school Pride style: 18-by-18 ring, five ropes, no escape,” Hisel told IVP on Tuesday, July 23. “They can't escape, they've just got to fight.”
Hisel said a local mixed martial arts league was something he had been thinking about for a long time, but he never really made up his mind to take the next step “because everyone told me it would cost money, and it does.”
“Everything from the umpires to the judges to the timekeepers to the corner help to the doctors on-site to the paramedics is a production,” Hisel said. Still, he said, “I think the Valley deserves it.”
“I think the Valley deserves good events and fun places. Of course, we all love movies, we all love shopping malls and there are lots of fun places, but this is a special treat for the Valley,” the promoter and event center manager said.
Hisel said that while the MMA fighters and fight staff are not all local, he hopes that DFC events will feature more local MMA fighters to entertain local crowds and inspire more people to get into the sport to hire licensed local fight teams in the future.
Hysell said competing in a CAMO-sanctioned bout is “something I have to do if I want to take the next step” – competing in professional-level MMA bouts in the future.
“You can wrestle in as many places as you want, but if you don't have a CAMO license, if you don't wrestle at CAMO, you can't go pro in California,” Hisel said. “You build up records, that's what we do here. So we got CAMO (as promoter) and I literally went out and renovated the wrestling ring.”
“[MMA]is something that hasn't been seen in Silicon Valley for a long time, and when we did see it, it wasn't the same,” he said.
The first bout at Desert Fighting Championship will see the 5'8″ Stubbs Ashley (amateur MMA record 5-2) competing in the 155-169 pound weight class, along with the 6'3″ London, who has been practicing Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) for a year and a half and will take on Stubbs Ashley's mixed fighting style.
According to CAMOmma.org, Stubbs Ashley's first two wins came in the second minute of the third round of a three-round bout – against Manahau Teritetufa and Sam Turpin – both in 2022. His two losses came against Alan Alvarez (National City) and Luis Fernando Medina, with his most recent loss coming against Medina (Chula Vista) on June 15th of this year.
Of London's four amateur mixed martial arts fights, one was won one minute and 30 seconds into the first round and the other was won less than two minutes into the second round. London's most recent fight was against Carson “Agoura Hills” Dohan on July 6 in Commerce, California, which was also his most recent win. London's only loss was against Anthony DeSimone in 2023, where he lost less than a minute into the first round, according to the CAMO website.
As for bouts on the opening card, Hisel said he doesn't want to announce them yet because they are “currently in the works.”
“We're preparing a very special exhibition for the Valley,” he said, “which we hope to announce very soon.”
“Even if people are from out of town, they'll get the same live experience and hopefully they'll be as excited as we are,” Hisel said, “and hopefully local fighters will come and see what it's all about and be motivated to sign up and get their license. I hope we get people from Mexicali, Yuma, here, Indio…
Regarding the size difference between the main event fighters, Hisel said, “Trevon is 5'2″ so he has the ability to win the fight.”
“I think it's going to come down to technology,” he said. “We'll see what happens.”
“This isn't boxing, this isn't wrestling, this is pure mixed martial arts at its finest,” Hisel said. “You're going to see these guys grow from where they are now to where they want to be, which is UFC.”
For more information, visit DFC on social media @DesertFightingChampionship on Instagram or Facebook.
