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Pablo Alfonso
Pablo “The Hurricane” Alfonso is a Cuban-American, professional Mixed Martial Artist currently signed with the World Series of Fighting organization. He holds the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under former No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, Daniel Valverde. “The Hurricane” competes at Bantamweight but has often fought at Featherweight as well. Alfonso is a veteran of Strikeforce, Jungle Fights, XFC, CFA, and AFC, among other MMA promotions. He is the XFC Bantamweight champion and has competed all across the globe in such places as Costa Rica, Brazil, Greece, also in the various cities in the United States. All of his wins have come by way of stoppage (7 Submissions, 2 KOs).

Early Life Pablo Alfonso was born in Jacksonville, FL on May, 9, 1982, but shortly thereafter moved with his family, including twin brother, and Amateur MMA champion, Pedro Alfonso to Miami, FL. It was in Miami that Alfonso first discovered wrestling, which quickly lead to his interest in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts.

Mixed Martial Arts Career Alfonso’s first professional bout took place on May 5, 2000, 4 days prior to his 18th birthday in Bedlam, Brazil. He won the fight by first round TKO. Over the coarse of the next 6 years, Pablo would continue honing his skills as well as competing regularly in grappling tournaments eventually making his way to the Abu Dubai Northeast trials, losing in the last round to famed grappler Justin Rader.

“The Hurricane” would not take his next MMA bout until Oct. 21, 2006 for the Absolute Fighting Championships. He would again win in the first round, this time by way of submission (triangle choke). Alfonso would go on to amass a professional record of 4-2 over the coarse of his next few fights before earning a title shot for the XFC Bantamweight Championship.On Sept. 5, 2009, Pablo won his first major title for the XFC promotion against undefeated Jason Goodall, the company’s poster boy, in Tampa, FL at the St. Pete Times Forum live on Mark Cuban’s HDnet Fights super station.

Following his championship victory Pablo was invited to compete for Strikeforce, the second biggest MMA organization in the world at the time, at their Strikeforce: Miami event which aired live on Showtime, but at a price. He was to face, multiple time World Jiu-Jitsu champion, and undefeated MMA prospect Marcos Da Matta. Da Matta, the head submission coach for one of the biggest and well known MMA schools in the world, American Top Team had even instructed, and trained with Pablo for a time when he was still in his teens. No one gave Pablo a chance as local press and major MMA outlets considered this to be a stepping stone for Da Matta, and saw Pablo as nothing but a “gatekeeper” at the regional level. Well it only took 107 seconds to prove all doubters wrong as he battered DaMatta on their feet, and submitted the submission master in one of the biggest MMA shows of 2010.

After his Strikeforce debut, Alfonso would serve as a late replacement in Jungle Fights 18, Brazil’s premier MMA organization, taking on future RFA Champion, Pedro Munhoz. He lost due to unanimous decision. Next up for “The Hurricane” would be former WEC Champion and MMA veteran, Chase Beebe, for the Ruckus Entertainment championship. He would go on to lose the fight due to rear naked choke in the first round.

After a brief hiatus, Pablo signed with CFA, an upstart Miami promotion focused on highlighting the growing MMA presents in southern Florida. He would go 2-1 with the organization including a decision loss, followed by 1 first round KO, and 1 first round submission.

Pablo Alfonso would go on to sign with Ray Sefo’s World Series of Fighting organization in late 2013. His first fight took place on Oct. 26, 2013 in his hometown of Miami, FL against ex-WEC champion and UFC-vet, Miguel Torres. Torres was a veteran of nearly 50 professional fights, and came in as the heavy favorite to win, but Alfonso was able to dictate the pace of the fight early. “The Hurricane” rocked Torres with a straight right punch and followed up with a flurry of uppercuts sending him to the canvas. There he took more damage until Alfonso secured a guillotine choke at 3:05 in the first round.

Pablo Alfonso is expected to fight at WSOF’s Jan. 18, 2014 event in South Florida though no opponent has been named.

Personal Life

Pablo has a twin brother, Pedro Alfonso who is an amateur MMA champion, and boxer. He also has a son, Ethan Alfonso, born in early 2011. The nickname “The Hurricane” was given to Alfonso by a friend after watching him fight for the first time.