American Top Teamer Steps Up To Face “The Silencer”

American Top Teamer Steps Up To Face “The Silencer”SAN JOSE, Calif. —American  Top Team member and two-time New York State
Metropolitan Boxing Champion,  Carlos Zevallos (0-0), will fill the recent void
left by Pat Barry, and  make his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) debut
against Andre “The  Silencer” Walker (2-3), in a light heavyweight (205 lb.
limit) contest  during Strikeforce “Payback” at Broomfield, Colorado’s Broomfield
Event Center  on Friday, October 3rd.   
Like  his opponent, Zevallos brings to the cage a rich history in the
striking arts,  winning back-to-back New York State Metropolitan Championships in
2005 and  2006.  A student of Muay Thai since  the age of 16, the Queens, New
York native, now 29, captured the World  Kickboxing Association (WKA) National
Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship in  2004.   
“I’ve  been waiting for this moment for a long time,” said Zevallos of his
upcoming MMA  debut. “I’m gonna make it very far (in MMA) because I pay a lot
of attention to  detail.  I really dissect the sport  and study it to the
fullest – every aspect of it.  “Not only do I learn it very fast, but I  get
really good at it.  It’s a  constant never ending search for perfection that
drives me to  MMA.”
“My  striking is a lot more advanced than the average MMA guy,” the fighter
stressed.  “ I take it for what it is and thank God that I have that edge over
them but, at  the same time, anyone can lose at any given moment so you
always have to find  whatever weaknesses you have and work on that.”
Zevallos’  experience in kickboxing and amateur boxing competition, which
also includes  three runs at the annual Golden Gloves Championships, has helped
prepare him to  fight in pressure situations like the one in Broomfield that
pits him against a  veteran of five MMA bouts.   
“To  this day, that holds a big part of my heart,” explained Zevallos of his
efforts  in the boxing ring.  “I just  remember things like fighting this guy
in one of the tournaments and getting  caught with a real nasty left hook.  I
felt my body starting to collapse while I was on the ropes.  Right before I
started going down, I  remembered that my cousin and one of my best friends
were in the audience and  all I started feeling was their emotions in the back of
my head and that woke me  up. I came back and won the fight.”
Last  year, Zevallos packed up his belongings and relocated to South Florida,
the home  of fearsome fight squad, American Top Team, to pursue a new
challenge in the  world’s fastest growing sport.  He  has since been taken under the
wing of famed ATT head instructor and Carlson  Gracie black belt, Ricardo
Liborio.
“I had heard about (American Top Team)  and seen them on TV a lot.  I liked 
the fact that they were winning consistently and I wanted to train where the 
best people were training.”
Zevallos’  opponent, Walker, is a Denver native and former student of Sabaki
Karate under  martial arts legend, Clarence Thatch.  In the late ‘90s, Walker
utilized his striking skills to go on an  unbeaten, 5-0 run in “Toughman”
competition.   

“The  Sabaki helps my stand-up (skills) in MMA a lot,” explained Walker.  “I’
m able to swing my opponent and knock  him off balance.  It’s a matter of 
using his weight against him.”
Walker  made his greatest impression in the fight world to date on August 11,
2001 when  he stopped Carter Williams in the second round of their K-1
matchup at Las  Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel and Casino.  Williams went on to capture the
K-1 North America tournament championship  two years later.   
Tickets  for Strikeforce “Payback,” priced from $30, are on sale at
Ticketmaster  (303-830-TIXS) and Ticketmaster.com
In  the main event, knockout artist and Denver native, Duane “Bang” Ludwig
(16-8), will attempt  to avenge a previous knockout at the hands of “The
Ultimate Fighter” season  three veteran, Sam “The Squeeze” Morgan (19-10).
Superstar  Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg (17-6)  will take on Hawaiian
submission expert, Falaniko “Niko” Vitale (26-8), in a  featured middleweight (185
lb. limit) contest.
Also  back in action at Strikeforce  “Payback” will be “The New York Badass”
 Phil Baroni (12-10) and “The Ultimate  Fighter” season four veteran, “The
Secret Weapon” Pete Spratt (18-14), who will battle  Donnie Liles (11-5) in a
welterweight (170 lb. limit)  showdown.
Broomfield Event Center doors will open for Strikeforce  “Payback” at 5:30
PM MST and the preliminary card will begin at 6:30 PM  MST.  The main card will
commence at  8 PM MST.
About Strikeforce:
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial  arts cage fight promotion which,
on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with  its “Shamrock vs. Gracie”
event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight  card in California state
history.  The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank 
Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP 
Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265.  Since 1995,
Strikeforce has been the  exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN
and, after 12 years of  success as a leading, world championship kickboxing
promotion, the company  unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs.
Gracie.”  Since then, it has co-produced the first  SHOWTIME PPV mixed
martial arts event in history with its world championship  “Shamrock vs. Baroni”
card on June 22, 2007 followed by the first-ever mixed  martial arts event at
the world-famous Playboy Mansion on September 29,  2007.  On April 12th of  this
year, Strikeforce launched the first-ever 52 week MMA series on one of the 
four major television networks in The U.S. – NBC.
Contacts: 
Mike  Afromowitz, Strikeforce – (917) 566-8754