New Braunfels native Billy Buch entered the ring for his cage match against Jimmy Alexander of Dallas on Friday night to the cheers from a home crowd at Gruene Harley-Davidson during Rally on the River last Friday.
Buch, a first-degree black belt in the United States Soryu Karate Federation and member of the Gladiators Academy in New Braunfels, was the hometown favorite as the chants of "Billy! Billy! Billy!" could be heard blocks away.
The din never abated, as for three rounds, Buch clearly dominated Alexander with a swift and powerful onslaught in the third round knockout.
The win improves Buch’s record to 3-0 in mixed martial arts competition.
Buch, 27, began his martial arts career in 1999 when Chris Lopez Jr. brought Buch into the dojo of his father, senior master instructor Chris Lopez.
The younger Lopez had been tutoring Buch in Thai kick box and wanted his father's help in furthering his friend's martial arts education.
Buch trained with the senior Lopez for three years and in 2006, Lopez teamed up with wrestling coach Paul Guenther of New Braunfels with the intent of training mixed martial arts students in the art of ground and pound.
When the school closed in its first year, Buch sought out another Lopez student, full contact fighter and master instructor, Jeff Bonugli, the owner of a kick box school in Spring Branch. Buch then began training with UFC fighter Kyle Cress, who quickly adopted Buch as his protégé. Cress, who is ranked by Lopez and Bonugli as a fifth-degree black belt in Soryu Karate, also holds a black belt in Kajukenpo, and has a back ground in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as well. Cress also competed Friday night, inflicting a loss by submission on his opponent, Colt McGinnis of Corpus Christi, in 61 seconds of the first round.
