Granados Ruins Alba’s Perfect Record; Palacios Bests Royval in Combate Americas Slugfest

Atomweights Paulina Granados and Stephanie Alba twice squared off during their amateur careers, with Granados prevailing via decision in both bouts. The outcome was no different in the pair’s first professional meeting, which served as the main event of Monday’s Combate Americas event in Los Angeles. Alliance MMA product Granados (3-2) jumped out to an early lead when she floored Alba (3-1) with a left hook late in the first round. Although a takedown helped Alba’s cause in the second stanza, the 4-foot-11 fighter struggled to connect with strikes once Granados got back to her feet. Granados’ footwork and boxing allowed her to pepper Alba from range for much of the final 10 minutes. It was a one-sided yet largely uneventful victory for Granados, though the judges’ scorecards were closer than one would imagine. In fact, judge Gene LeBell favored Alba in the fight by a score of 29-28. He was overruled, however, by judges Chris Crail and David Rathgeber, who scored the bout 30-27 and 29-28 for Granados, respectively. The show was well and truly stolen by the evening’s co-main event, a 140-pound catchweight contest between Texas-based “Gallero” Ricardo …

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