Texas-based Fury FC is back again with another exciting event, set to go down at the Cowboys Dancehall in Houston, Texas, on Sunday afternoon. Fury FC 63 will be headlined by a scrap between featherweight risers Lorram Esteves (5-1) and Dimitre Ivy (10-6), both of whom are coming off wins inside the Fury FC cage the last time out. The co-main event is also set to be contested at 145 pounds, with Mexico’s Masio Fullen (14-9) set to take on Cameron Graves (9-6).
The main card is set to air beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT on UFC Fight Pass, while the prelims can found live on the Fury Fighting Championships Facebook page beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET and 12:30 p.m. PT.
Hungry Featherweights Collide in Main Event of Fury FC 63
Ivy is the twin brother of former UFC welterweight Anthony Ivy, and fights similarly to his twin brother, utilizing a pressure-based style with grappling to fall back on. The Ivy brothers train out of Brazilian Top Team Texas in San Antonio, but unlike his brother, Dimitre is coming off a win his last time out. He took a hard-fought unanimous decision over Jake Heffernan, earning the 10th win of his career, and he will be looking for No. 11 against Esteves, a no-nonsense finisher who through six mixed martial arts bouts has never been dominated. The lone loss of his career came by split decision two years ago, and the Brazilian has since rattled off three consecutive victories inside the Fury FC cage. Even more notably so, all of these wins have come via choke submission within the first two rounds.
Both fighters have combined for at least 10 submission victories, so it seems likely this fight will hit the mat at some point. What happens from there is anybody’s guess, as Ivy even has a victory by twister on his record, which he achieved against Devin Cowan at Fury FC 20 five years ago. Ivy also figures to be the more well-rounded fighter, having taken kickboxing fights outside the sport in the past, and has fought the higher level of competition with two of his defeats coming from UFC veterans Alexander Hernandez and Daniel Pineda. At 32 years of age, the time is now for Ivy to make a run onto the UFC’s radar, though oddsmakers see him as a slight underdog going into Sunday’s main event.
The Co-Main Event
Sunday’s second fight from the top will conversely feature two fighters looking to get back on track as both Fullen and Graves are coming off a string of defeats heading into their co-main event tilt. Fullen, a three-fight UFC veteran, most recently endured a first-round knockout at Fury FC 56 against Jesse Butler and prior to that fell to Diego Lopes via third-round armbar. Fullen is among the first wave of Mexican fighters to step foot inside the Octagon; however, and as a result, has fought the significantly higher level of competition between the two. He compiled a 1-2 record inside the UFC coming off the first season of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, with both defeats occurring at the hands of perennial top-30 featherweights in Makwan Amirkhani and Alex Caceres.
Graves will be a familiar face to Fury FC fans, as Sunday will mark the 14th time he has fought for the promotion. In fact, he has done so all but twice in his career, notching a 1-1 record in LFA. The 28-year-old local of Houston looked like he had a chance to be a can’t-miss prospect in the early going, winning all six of his amateurs bouts before turning pro and starting his career 5-0 with three knockouts. He then hit a wall, getting knocked out by Rey Trujillo at Fury FC 13, and from there has gone 4-5, even taking a knockout loss to Ivy, one half of the evening’s main event fight. “Camelot” has only ever won by knockout or decision in his career, so Sunday’s co-main event could very well turn into a striker’s delight. Fullen is currently seen as a -180 favorite by the oddsmakers, with Graves currently being priced as a +150 underdog.
Rest of the Card
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The preliminary card will be made up entirely of amateur bouts, with the FFC Bantamweight Championship on the line in the closing fight. The featured fight of main card will be a battle of hot local featherweight prospects with Josh Rosen (not the former Cardinals quarterback) set to take on Aric Mercado. Moving down the card, fight fans will be treated to another barnburner between Kody Steele and Kenan Jackson of Jackson-Wink MMA, as well as a middleweight fight between Zachary Borrego and William Vandervier.
