By Evan Jacobs

Englebrecht Promotions & Events returned to the Hangar at the OC Fair & Events Center in Costa Mesa, CA for their second sell out Fight Club OC show of 2023. In a featured bout, cruiserweight Tervel Pulev (17-1, 13 KOs) from Bulgaria punished Brooklyn’s Joel Shojgreen (14-5, 13KOs) to get a three round stoppage.

The opening bout was 4 round boxing match in the super lightweight division. Riverside’s Adrian Trujillo (1-0) took on Huntington Beach’s Sabino Sanchez (0-1) in a battle of two fighters making their pro debuts. It was an entertaining fight as Trujillo blasted Sabino to the floor courtesy of a perfectly landed left hook. However, Sabino got up and showed a ton of grit as Trujillo stalked and pounded him with shots to the head and body. In the end, Trujillo pounded out a 4 round decision to win his pro debut against the tough but outgunned Sanchez.

The first MMA bout of the night saw Flyweights Randy Sosa 1-1 of Santa Ana meet Los Angeles’s Daniel Park (1-0 1KO) who was making his pro-debut. These fighters seemed to measure one another for the first round, with Park negating the come forward style of Sosa. In the second round it was more of the same until Park exploded with a right hand down the middle. This dropped Sosa who received some intense ground and pound action, until the bout was halted giving Park his first victory in the pros.

Hoping to put a scare into his opponent, Murrieta’s Michael Meyers 5-2 (3KOs) took on Chula Vista’s Mario Aguirre 3-21-1 (2KOs). This super lightweight boxing match saw a very interesting, almost tactical boxing match unfold. Meyers came out throwing and landing hard shots to the body and head. Aguirre was game and used subtle head movement, and in and out tactics, to negate the onslaught. Each round was close but ultimately the judges seemed to favor the more come forward, hard punching style of Meyers giving him a 4 round decision. Per Fight Club OC tradition, the crowd showered both fighters with money in appreciation of the fighter’s efforts.

Next, making his pro MMA debut was Fullerton’s Brandon Ahrndt (0-1) battling Santa Ana’s Carlos Elizarraraz (1-3-1) in 3 round bantamweight affair. Both warriors fought a bit of a tepid first round as each seemed to be trying to figure out what the other had style-wise. In the 2nd and 3rd, Elizarraraz stepped up his game and scored a series of takedowns. He mixed in some ground and pound and the bout turned in his favor. Ultimately, it came down to Ahrndt just not doing enough and Elizarraraz took a decision, and in the process got his first pro victory.

In a special bout, Cruiserweight boxer Tervel Pulev 17-1 (13KOs) from Bulgaria met Brooklyn’s Joel Shojgreen 14-5 (13KOs) in a scheduled 8 round contest. Pulev, the brother of heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev (2 of his 3 losses came in title challenges to Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko) was attempting to rebound from his only defeat. In May of 2022, he met former champion and future Hall of Famer Sergey Kovalev, and dropped a 10 round decision. Tonight it was all Pulev who was just a step ahead of Shojgreen from the opening bell. Pulev started to settle down on his punches in the 2nd and 3rd, After dropping Shojgreen at the end of the third, Shojgreen retired on his stool before the start of the 4th round giving Pulev a 3rd round TKO.

Returning to MMA, the crowd was electrified by the 3 round featherweight bout between Huntington Beach’s Demarcus Brown 6-10 as he took on Irvine’s Alex Arteaga 4-1. This fight was electric from the opening bell. Demarcus Brown got the takedown, but it proved to be his undoing. Arteaga just missed getting a submission via an armbar, but eventually got it with a kneebar and submitted Demarcus Brown in round one. The time was 2:46.

Closing the show was the Tequila Mandala Fight of the Night! Also being contested for the Tequila Mandala Young Champions Belt, San Fernando’s Sonny Robledo 7-0 (2KOs) took on Long Beach’s Tyrrell Washington 4-2 (3KOs) in a 6 round super lightweight scrap. These combatants engaged in a highly tactical fight in which Robledo attempted to counter, and Washington remained on the outside. The early rounds were close but Robledo slowly got his timing with Washington down. While the punches (and power) of Washington kept him honest, Robledo clipped Washington with a shot that dropped him in the fourth. While it seemed like Washington was potentially off balance, he got up and his legs were a bit discombobulated. Then, as Washington smiled at him, Robledo cracked him with a highlight reel right hand and and Washington was dropped again. Seeing enough, the bout was waved off for a 4th round KO.

It was yet another great night of fights at Fight Club OC!