This is your Colorado MMA News weekend wrap up for February 10.

Elevation fight team got the past weekend started as two of their fighters traveled to Indiana for HFC 42.

The young Denver based flyweight, Emma Sojo, made her amateur MMA debut against Abbey Ewing at the Horseshoe Hammond Casino. Sojo displayed great skill and heart in a back and forth affair, but would unfortunately come up on the losing end of the scorecards when the fight went to the judges.

Sojo’s teammate, Lance “The Boogeyman” Wright, improved his pro record to 5-1 as he defeated Gabriel Mota (3-4) while adding yet another submission to his resume. Wright stalked Mota, pushing a relentless pace as long as the fight lasted, cutting off corners of the cage and walking his opponent down, forcing Mota to fight off his back foot for much of the bout.

At 4:50 of the first round, Wright finished Mota with a rarely seen, knee choke along the fence. With the early victory, The boogeyman now has 4 submission victories on his resume.

The Following Night

UFC 247 went down in Houston and three Factory X fighters were featured on the card. Initially, only two were expected to fight, with James Krause simply traveling to provide cornerman duties. However, when the opponent for Trevin Giles had to drop out at the last minute, James Krause decided to step up on 24 hours notice, going up two weight classes from his normal fighting weight to take the fight and show the world just how gangster he is.

Despite not getting the judges nod at fights end, Krause earned an extra $50k for his bold act, earning fight of the night honors and great respect from the MMA community.

In the opening bout of the evening, 23-year-old, Youssef “The Moroccan Devil” Zalal had an incredible UFC debut. Zalal exhibited great speed and footwork, out-finessing his opponent, Austin Lingo, with a beautiful blend of techniques. The Moroccan devil was able to keep lingo guessing and off-balance throughout the three-round affair, by threatening with takedowns and attacking with submissions when the fight went to the mat.

Zalal dominated his opponent everywhere, at distance, inside the clinch, and on the mat. A truly impressive performance from the young Factory X product. Keep an eye out for what’s next from the surging featherweight.

In the second fight of the night, it is safe to say that Zalal’s teammate, Jonathan Martinez was robbed by the judges in a fight of the night candidate. Martinez took on Andre Ewell and both men put on an incredible display of skill. Martinez had Ewell hurt multiple times throughout the fight, however, when the fight went to the judges scorecards, somehow Ewell came out on top, even receiving one score of 30-27.

As Joe Rogan said after the results were read, “A 30-27 score is criminal.” It certainly seemed as though Martinez had done enough to take home the victory. A disappointing end to an otherwise spectacular fight and performance from “The Dragon”, Jonathan Martinez.

And Over in Thailand…

Easton Muay Thai’s Sam Colonna went to war with a Chinese fighter at Max Muay Thai over the weekend. The two men decided to engage in an elbow battle that left gashes on both fighter’s heads. When the fight went to the judge’s scorecards, the result was a draw.

In other local MMA news…

The bout between Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris has been rebooked for April 11th at UFC Fight Night Portland as the Main Event. Overeem heads into the fight with a 45-18 pro record, having won 2 of his last 3. Walt Harris enters the fight with a 13-7 overall record, having won his last 3 fights in a row. The fights will be streamed live on ESPN +.

A change of fight plans has come about for Elevation Fight Team’s “Grizzly” Claire Guthrie. Instead of fighting at the King of Sparta event later this month, the 1-0 pro will now fight at Invicta’s female bantamweight tournament that will see 8 fighters compete in a one-night event on Friday, March 6th.

The first round and semi-finals round will consist of 1, 5-minute rounds and the finals will be a traditional 3, 5 minute round fight. Guthrie could fight up to three times in one night. Don’t miss this big one-night event which can be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.

JD Hardwick of Eason Muay Thai joined The Prize Fighting Business to discuss his incredible martial arts journey which has included living, training, and fighting in Asia as well as fighting for some of the premier organizations such as Bellator, Glory Kickboxing, and One Championship. Check out his interview on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts, dropping soon.

And in new local matchup announcements…

Colorado Combat Club 5 takes place at the end of the month at the Pueblo Convention Center on February 29th and a handful of new fights have been made.

Ty Rivers of Factory X (1-0) vs Darien Robinson (4-2) of Cies MMA will go down in an amateur lightweight bout.

Brandi Hancock (1-5) of Pariah MMA and Tabitha Trevino (1-10) will throw down in a bantamweight bout.

And Micah Haas will take on Desmond Jones in an amateur bantamweight bout for both men’s MMA debuts.

Fights take place at the Pueblo Convention Center, starting at 6:00 pm MST.

Additionally, It was recently announced that Mitch Seybold of Rad Muay Thai will fight Dylan Penland of Bang Muay Thai at Sparta 81 in a Muay Thai bout at 170 lbs. The event takes place on Saturday, March 28th at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.

Furthermore, Sparta’s Army vs Marines event takes place on April 25th at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland Colorado and a couple of new bouts have been added to the card.

A fight between Megan Winick of Trials MMA and Staci Vega of Genesis Fight Team will go down at 115 lbs. Winick is 0-1 heading into the bout and Vega is 0-1-1.

And Mason Sonnier (3-1) will fight Roman Marquez (2-1) at 205 lbs. Doors open at 5:00 and fights start at 6:00.

Byline: Colorado MMA News is your home for Colorado Mixed Martial Arts, Muay Thai, & Kickboxing news. Colorado MMA News is a senior contributor to The MMA Plug powered by Mile High Sports. Follow them on Instagram @ColoradoMMANews for fresh content daily and stay up to date with the local fight action.