MMA event set for Coliseum

There will be blood - more than just a movie in this circumstance.

The first mixed martial arts fight to be held at the Ector County Coliseum will take place at 7:30 tonight.

The "Collision at the Coliseum" will feature between 10 and 12 fights, featured by Texas RuFFhouse Fight Association's Paco Castillo taking on Alfredo Herrera of Hobbs, N.M., in the showcase bout.

 To make the event possible, the sport had to first gather popularity in the area, and it did just that.

"In one month my enrollment increased to 50 students and 25 fighters," RuFFhouse owner Brian Pierce said. 

But he said interest in mixed martial arts in Odessa wasn't always so high.

"When I started, I was doing small shows in New Mexico and no one was really fighting in Odessa," Pierce said. "I started to bring MMA back to Odessa, people started to know I was a fighter and we started training in our school."

Now that the school has generated interest, Pierce's ambitions have traveled further as well.

"As a promoter and a businessman, I want to try to make Odessa the Mecca of mixed martial arts," he said. "We're here to educate and enable athletes to step up to a higher level. We also want to put this event on four times a year."

Other instructors have now joined Pierce in his efforts.

George Sotelo is an ex-Marine, and he brings his experience to training at RuffHouse.

He said he met another Marine in North Carolina who debated against him whether or not mixed martial arts were better than boxing. Sotelo was a big boxing fan and the two agreed to try each other's sport.

Sotelo tried mixed martial arts first and said his friend "whooped" him.

"I've been hooked since then and when I got back February of '07, I started to look for a school," he said.

Although practicing for mixed martial arts might sound vague to some, Pierce said it's actually well disciplined.

"In class we do conditioning drills, then we work on technique," he said. "We break it down step by step, then we practice. We're selective about how we teach."

Pierce and his teachers are skilled in jiu-jitsu, muy thai, judo, boxing, kickboxing and Taekwondo, and Pierce said the athletes in mixed martial arts are the best conditioned athletes in the world.

"We're very well disciplined and educated. We aren't bar fighters - but don't get me wrong, it get's bloody and painful," he said.

"You can't be dependent on one style and be efficient on the street or in the ring," he said. "You can't know only judo and have to face a variety of your opponent's styles."

 THE BASICS

>> For tickets, visit www.centralticketoffice.com, Luskey's Western Wear, Endless Horizons or Super Mercado in Midland.

>> General admission is $25, floor seats are $50 and ringside seats are $100.