MMA event Saturday in Guymon

November 11, 2011

The buzz around mixed martial arts has been growing in Guymon since the sport was introduced to the Oklahoma Panhandle in July.

When Extreme Cagefighting Competition returned in August for its second event, it saw the crowd at the Texas County Activity Center double. Event organizer MarkAnthony Baca expects to see that type of growth again Saturday as ECC returns for “Guymon Beatdown XXIV.”

“These are going to be really good fights. We have three title fights scheduled,” Baca said. “The first fight we had about 200 people in the crowd. Last time we had more than 500. This time I am hoping to have it at capacity … about 800.”

The 15-fight event begins at 7 p.m., with gates opening an hour earlier. General admission is $20.

“We have some new fighters but we also have some of the same fighters we had in the first couple of fights; guys that have definitely earned their spots,” Baca said. “For a lot of them, that first fight was their first time, but they have improved a lot and deserve their shot.”

Baca said that his fights are promoted as family friendly events, unlike many other mixed martial arts fight promotions.

“I just moved to Guymon last week and I’ve already had a bunch of people come up and say good things about our events. Even pastors. I’ve had more pastors come up to me in this last week than ever before in my life,” Baca said. “A lot of children don’t ever go to an MMA fight because of the alcohol or the cussing. We don’t have any of that. We don’t want that element.”

Baca, who runs American Karate Studios and trains MMA fighters, said there are a number of fighters from Guymon waiting to climb into the cage. For this event, however, none were healthy enough to put on the fight card.

“We do have some familiar faces but I’m also bringing guys from all over the place,” Baca said. “I’ve got one guy coming all the way from Phoenix to fights in one of the title fights.”