At the Opening of KO! Live in Arlington undefeated super featherweight prospect Joel "The Owl" Martinez made a statement in the evening's co-main event. The long, rangy. 6'1 Southpaw, KO artist looked sharp in his return to the ring. Martinez who fights out of FHG Gym in Fort Worth, started patiently working behind a southpaw jab and stalked patiently until he found his opening late in the first round just after the 10-second clap Martinez unleashed on his opponent, Kendall Wardt with a body shot that sent him into the corner, and unleashed on him dropping him to a knee just before the bell. Ward got to his feet and started the second round, however, the writing was on the wall. Martinez, who was fighting with an injured left hand, was fighting with just a left hand hurt ward again with a right hook to the body that he put a left hand behind. Martinez trapped Ward into the ropes again and unloaded on him and a massive right hook put the outmatched Ward on the canvas for a final time, giving Martine the win, who has now won two fights in a row both by stoppage since his draw with Sean Brewer last summer. The Fort Worthian improved his record to 5-0-1 (3).
Jake Ysasi. of Grand Prairie closed the show well in the main event and took care of Sean Hamilton of El Paso to move his record to 8-0 (2) in a scheduled four-rounder. Ysasi took a clear-cut decision and looked impressive in picking up his second consecutive win since his year-and-a-half layoff. Ysasi applied pressure brilliantly, and let his hands go, hurting Hamilton several times throughout the scheduled four-rounder. Ysasi continued to march forward despite several dirty tactics from Hamilton, including picking the Grand Prairie native up and dropping him on the canvas at one point. Hamilton hung tough and held on when needed, but Ysasi was far too classy and far too skilled as he closed the show in fashion and stayed aggressive throughout as he took the one-sided decision by scores of 40-36 and 39-37X2.
Also on the undercard was Arlington native Briana Carrera, who made her pro debut a successful one. A single right-hand dropped and stopped Jessie Clark in under one minute of the opening round. Carrera's record stands at 1-0 (1).