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The Punisher
Garcia ranked amongst top in Jiu-Jitsu
WESLACO — Fans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship may want to remember the name Petey "The Punisher" Garcia of Weslaco in the future.
Garcia, a nine year old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter who is currently training at the McAllen Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy, has made quite a name of himself around the valley. He is the youngest black belt in the valley in karate, a two-time state champion, undefeated in the state of Texas, and was on an NBC documentary featuring Jiu-Jitsu.
"I have been in karate since I was three years old and achieved my black belt in karate at the age of seven at the Universal Martial Arts Academy in Weslaco," said Garcia. "Then, I went to a tournament 2 ½ years ago in Elsa called the South Texas Showdown and that is where I made the transition to Jiu-Jitsu."
"At the beginning, it was pretty complicated and it took me a while to get into the groove. After six months of training, I got it down and decided to compete in that style."
Garcia talks about how he got the nickname "The Punisher."
"My dad actually gave me that nickname after a year of training," said Garcia. "He called me that because I was punishing the kids I trained and sparred with."
Garcia has placed first in four major events that range from the Universal Martial Arts Hall of Fame in Houston to the Carlson Gracie open in Austin with all of his wins coming by submission.
But, Garcia's biggest claim to fame was competing in the Hoyce Gracie Worlds competition in California and placed sixth in the world. During his trip to California, Garcia got an opportunity to have dinner with Gracie.
"I was super surprised to have an opportunity to meet Hoyce Gracie and even have dinner with him," said Garcia.
Garcia plans to continue with Jiu-Jitsu and hopes that one day it will pay off.
"I would love to have an opportunity to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship someday," said Garcia. "In fact, I kind of compare myself to Matt Hughes who is currently fighting there. He is a farm boy and comes from a small town, kind of like I do. I envy him and hope one day I can become a superstar like he has."
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| Citizen, Mike Wise would know what integrity was if it would jump up and slap him on his face, please this guy is a lawyer what wrong with you. Ok let’s see who his main supporters are, Zeke Reyna this guy is also a lawyer not a good one from what I hear that is why he is in politics that and the fact that his house and property is going to get annex and he will have to pay city taxes like the rest of us when De La Rosa wins his re-election that is why Zeke Reyna is shelling out the big bucks buying up votes, then we have Bennita Valadez she wants her contract back collecting for the ambulance service and city fines and gets to charge more for her services than the company that is there right now, oh let’s not forget AC Cuellar he is also throwing money at Mike Wise hoping Mike wins and to insure that he gets the concrete contract on the upcoming water and waste water plants, and then we have what I and the rest of Weslaco knows him as EL MENSO Rivera, who is helping Mike Wise because Zeke and AC told him to. Well there you have it Mike Wise circle of friends and supporters, what do you think about him now. Like I told you before integrity and Mike Wise are like oil and water they just don’t mix. |
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| Truth - Jun 07, 2010 03:29:22 PM | Remove Comment |
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| i have rolled with petey and he is pritey good i with he would come back and train at mbjja. |
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| stephen - May 31, 2010 08:48:02 AM | Remove Comment |
