(PRESS RELEASE) -- When injuries and illness started to ravage the mixed martial arts portion of the Best of Both Worlds III fight card, match maker Richard Goodman opted to strengthen the card rather then just fill in the holes.

Goodman made the call north to Sacramento’s Ultimate Fitness gym for Hanford, Calif.’s Chad Mendes, who joins Fresno, Calif.’s Casey Olson and Visalia, Calif.’s Doug Marshall as the biggest local MMA draws in the Central Valley.

Mendes (3-0) will continue his decent up the MMA ladder and be tested against a veteran featherweight in Ogden, Utah’s Steven Siler (13-6) on Thursday, July 16 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif. where hybrid MMA/Boxing cards have become the norm.

Siler is currently riding an 8-fight win streak and recently defeated former Palace Fighting Championship World Featherweight Champion Shawn Bias (13-8) by submission.

Siler is a well-rounded submission specialist with nine of his 13 victories coming via submission.

Mendes and Siler will battle in a 3-round fight that is now being billed as the main event on the MMA portion of the card.

Tickets can be purchased at tickets.com or charge by phone 1-800-225-2277 and at the Palace gift shop.

Mendes is coming off of a decision victory over Dos Palos, Calif.’s Art Arciniega (7-4), who was the former Palace Fighting Championship World Featherweight Champion. Mendes is recognized across the country as one of the very best college wrestlers turned fighter.

Mendes was an NCAA Division I finalist his senior season at Cal Poly and is a 2-time All-American. Since graduating he has become one of the featured fighters on Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male.

In the co-main event, Bias of Oroville, Calif. will take on former PFC World Bantamweight Champ Shawn Klarcyk (9-3) of Porterville, Calif.

The pair will meet at a catch weight of 140 pounds after Fresno, Calif.’s Jorge Evangelista (8-3-1) was forced from the card for personal reasons.

The boxing portion of the card will be headlined by a heavyweight title bout, as WBC Caribbean Heavyweight Champion Manuel Quezada of Wasco, Calif. puts his belt on the line against the explosive Travis Walker of Tallahassee, Fla.

Quezada (27-4, 17 knockouts) has won 16 straight fights and is on the verge of breaking into the WBC Top 10.

Meanwhile, Walker (31-2-1, 25 KOs) has won four straight fights after a loss to Chris Arreola (25-0) in November 2008.

Also, featured on the MMA side of the card are some exciting local bouts.

Lemoore, Calif. featherweight Sergio Quinones (3-5) steps in to take on Hanford, Calif. favorite Chris Sanchez (1-0). It will be a contrast of styles in the MMA co-main event with the former Lemoore High wrestling standout Quinones taking on the karate star Sanchez.

Much like Mendes does for MMA, Hanford, Calif.’s Shawn Estrada does for local boxing. The return of 2008 U.S. Olympian Estrada will be highlighted on the boxing portion of the card as Estrada will look to keep his pro boxing record a perfect one. Estrada is 6-0 with six knockouts. His supper middleweight fight will be against Fresno, Calif.’s Loren Myers (7-2, 2 KOs).

Also in action on the boxing side, is U.S. Olympian Javier Molina (2-0, 2 KOs). Molina is a rising welterweight star from the City of Commerce, Calif. and he will take on Albuquerque, NM’s Freddie Cisneros (1-0-1).

The exciting junior welterweight from Bakersfield, Calif. Michael Dallas Jr. (8-0-1, 1 KO) will also return to action against Huatabampo, Mexico’s Francisco Rios (10-9, 6 KOs).

Las Vegas, Nev. lightweight Jessica Rakoczy (30-3, 10 KOs) is also on the card as is late additions undefeated Covina, Calif.’s John Molina Jr. (17-0, 13 KOs) and unbeaten Los Angeles, Calif. junior featherweight Rico Ramos (10-0, 6 KOs).

And Tulare, Calif.’s Ruben Cuellar (3-1, 1 KO) will fight Niagara Falls, NY’s James Ventry (7-8-1, 4 KOs) in a 6-round junior welterweight rematch.

Rounding out the MMA side of the card is a light heavyweight bout between local punching powerhouse Brandon Lorenz (1-1) from Lemoore, Calif. against Sacramento, Calif.’s Mark Matthews (1-1) and a lightweight battle between Visalia, Calif.’s Cody Gibson (1-0) and Lemoore, Calif.’s Josh Stockton (0-0).

Doors open on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and fights start at 6. On Wednesday, fans are encouraged to come out to the Palace and attend the official weighins, which take place on the third floor at The Den Sports Bar. The weighins are for 21-and-older and no one under the age of 21 will be permitted to attend the weighins. Weighins are slated to begin at 4 p.m.