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After winning the Copa Combate one-night tournament in December, Andres Quintana seemed primed to be the face of Combate Americas in 2019. However, the New Mexico native has been unable to return to the cage for reasons not his own. At Combate Americas “Tahoe” on Friday night, he will be welcomed back to the cage after eight months by a familiar foe, with the newly introduced featherweight title on the line.
Before “Bullet” defeated Alejandro Flores in the finals of the Copa Combate 2018, he turned away Bruno Cannetti in a back and forth semifinals affair. Despite the Argentinian flooring Quintana, 28, in the early going, he was able to recover and deal out his own brand of smash mouth, leading to a knockout victory half way through the round. Some -- including Cannetti and his corner -- questioned the stoppage. However, in Quintana’s mind, there is no “controversy” surrounding the pair’s first encounter.
“The people who think the fight was stopped to early, they just don’t know s**t about MMA. Straight up. I was in a very dominant position, where I was going to keep raining shots until he wasn’t going to move no more. If they want to say it’s controversial, fine. I don’t really care. I’m in there to do my job.”
With Quintana believing the victory was decisive and indisputable, he was a bit surprised to find out he would be facing Cannetti again so soon.
“I was really confused when [Combate Americas] said you’re fighting Bruno again. It doesn’t bug me, but OK, [being matched with Cannetti again] was a shocker to me. Like f**k, bring someone in I haven’t beat.”
