A former Tucson High wrestler and Brazilian jiujitsu black belt is making a name for himself in professional mixed martial arts.
Tucson’s Levi Escobar (2-0) will face Mexico City’s Daniel Sanchez (2-1) in a lightweight MMA bout headlining Friday’s Combate Global event in Miami. The card will be shown on Univision and Paramount Plus starting at 8 p.m.
Escobar submitted his previous opponent in the first minute of Combate Global’s Aug. 8 event, but said he’s ready to go the distance against Sanchez in Friday’s scheduled three-round fight.
“It’s always going to be nice to get a first-round finish. But I’m mentally prepared to go all 15 minutes, bell to bell,” Escobar said. “I don’t ever want to force things in the cage. When you force things, that’s when you make mistakes and get hurt.”
Escobar said he expects Sanchez to make errors that he’ll be able to pounce on. He plans is to keep his eyes open and his head tranquil amid combat, he said.
“I’m going to go out there calm and collected and take what he gives me. Of course, I’ll be aggressive and make my game, but I know he’s going to make a mistake,” Escobar said. “When I see the opening, I’m going to close in either by striking or a take-down. It’s going to show itself to me and I’m going to capitalize.”
The 25-year-old said he’s in the best shape of his life after spending the past two months training under legendary coach Colin Oyama at the Team Oyama MMA & Fitness academy in Irvine, California. Oyama has trained Ultimate Fighting Championship stars Tito Ortiz, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and many others who went on to fight for the internationally-known MMA promotion.
“I was able to do great work out there, expand my game and grow a lot,” Escobar said. “I’m happy with what I’ve done in my camp for the two months I was out there and I’m really excited to just open up and let it all show.”
The fighter has also been training with Brazilian jiujitsu master Ricardo “Rey” Diogo, who also taught Escobar’s father, Martin, in the 1990s. Diogo is credited with helping the Gracie clan introduce the sport to the United States. Martin Escobar is the founder of one of Tucson’s first Brazilian jiujitsu dojos, DeBrazil Jiu-Jitsu Academy, 560 W. 22nd St.
Levi Escobar has been living in Diogo’s home while in Los Angeles.
“It’s not like because I’ve moved away from Tucson that I’m not a part of (DeBrazil Academy),” he said. “I’ve put myself in direct connection to our trainer and now I’m able to learn directly from my dad’s instructor more extensively than I could have before.”
Escobar said he hopes all his hard work will lead to a lightweight title during the upcoming Copa Combate. The tournament is similar to the early days of the UFC in that it features multiple elimination matches throughout the night until a champion emerges. However, Copa Combate differs by awarding titles to the winners of each division that year, instead of UFC’s former winner-take-all model.
“Each fight is one round and you pretty much have to dominate that one round to move on. But that (Copa Combate) is absolutely in my sights,” Escobar said. “When I get this win on Friday night, I’ll be 3-0 and I’m just going to keep climbing until they put me in the tournament for lightweight.”
Ultimately, Escobar’s sights are set on joining the UFC soon. He believes securing Combate Global’s lightweight title would get him closer to that goal.
Escobar said he also appreciates being a part of Combate, because it’s helping bring MMA to a Spanish-speaking audience.
“It’s a very smooth-run operation,” he said. “The fact that it’s opening up an audience to the whole Latin American community and still catering to an American audience is great.
“I’m in the right place right now because it’s built a great foundation for me. I can take to the UFC once I transition from Combate Global.”
