UFC veterans look to KO budget cuts
Saturday expo to benefit Cibola wrestling team
Efrain Escudero has won 12 professional mixed martial arts bouts, but is now fighting a different battle.
The UFC veteran will headline an MMA expo Saturday which will also be attended by professional fighters Aaron Simpson and Edgar Garcia. Proceeds of the event will benefit Cibola's wrestling team, which had its budget slashed prior to the start of this school year.
Escudero, a Cibola alumnus, came up with the idea for the event while talking with Raiders wrestling coach Jose Moreno.
"I wanted to help Cibola wrestling. Being in the UFC, I would never be here if it wasn’t for wrestling and if it wasn’t for Jose Moreno," Escudero said. "I wanted to give something back to the community so I got together a couple guys and they put this whole thing together. I’m really stoked about it."
The event, which has a goal to raise $3,000, will help supplement funding for a program which had been stripped of all necessary funding for travel.
"They really, really pulled the rug from underneath. If you weren’t firm, you could fall real easily," Moreno said. "They took everything, they took travel for vans, gas, entry fees, hotels. We even have to pay for our own substitutes when we miss for those tournaments."
It was disconcerting for Escudero and Moreno, who have each helped the program become a perennial powerhouse at the state level. Last season the Raiders had two individual state champion wrestlers and three runners-up.
Their fear, they said, was that without the ability to travel, the program would weaken.
"How can you have the best wrestlers if you never get out of Yuma?" Escudero said. "You've got to test yourself, go to camps, fight the tougher competition, which is up in Phoenix. So I wanted to raise enough money so hopefully they can travel."
The plan had initially been for Escudero to either donate products, which could have been sold, or for him to donate a lump sum of money.
"But we kept talking about it and people were just suggesting things and we figured this would be a way to get some sponsors to set up booths and have these guys in the expo," Moreno said.
The event will take place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Cibola. Cost for admission is $5 for adults, $3 for youths and free to children 9 years old or younger. The event will also feature a jiu-jitsu tournament, hosted by X-Grappling.
