Combate Americas’ Homegrown ‘Ghost Pepper’

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During his three-year run with Combate Americas, Erick Gonzalez has been groomed for placement as a top star in the organization. On Sept. 20, in the State Aviation Auditorium in Mexicali, Mexico, the long-time prospect will have his opportunity to step forward as a new face for the promotion as he competes for the inaugural Combate Americas lightweight championship. The 27-year-old’s opportunity to compete for the company’s first 155-pound title was not earned easily. He made his debut at Combate 6, when the organization was still in its earliest stages, and won six of his eight fights en route to the golden opportunity that lies ahead of him. The work he has put in to get to this moment fills him with a great deal of pride. “To be honest, I take a lot of pride in being one of the few guys that started from the beginning of Combate,” Gonzalez told Sherdog. “Before they went to Azteca, before they went to Univision, before they went to UFC Fight Pass, before all that stuff. I think it’s a thing people don’t really look at, but knowing my history with Combate, I take a lot of pride in that. Because I worked my butt off for three years, and not many people can say that they’ve been working with the promotion since the beginning. To be the first ever lightweight [champion]; that’s going to be history, because Combate will be going a lot farther.”