Combate Americas' Kyra Batara confident she can twist Jenny Silverio into pretzel

By: Steven Marrocco

Atomweight veteran Kyra Batara last stepped into the Combate Americas cage on 10 days’ notice, three of which she’d used up on a booze cruise in celebration of her 21st birthday.

No hangover would stop her from winning her fight, though. In the first round, she hit a double-leg takedown and put her opponent in a twister, much to the pleasure of her cornerman and longtime coach, Eddie Bravo.

“I see her walk back to her corner, and I was like, ‘I won,’” Batara told MMAjunkie Radio.

Her opponent’s hobble indeed provided a coming attraction for a third-round TKO, which left Batara (4-3) with her second straight win and fourth overall as a professional.

This time around, there’s no partying to get in her way as she takes on the surging Jenny Silverio (4-1) for Combate America’s next offering, a fight card April 25 at the LA Exchange in Los Angeles. The event streams live on UFC Fight Pass with UFC women’s bantamweight contender Julianna Pena slated to provide color commentary, according to a recent press release.

Batara can see herself following in Pena’s footsteps against Silverio, a kung fu and judo specialist who’s won her past four fights.

“I know she’s going to try and keep it standing with me,” Batara said of her opponent. “I think my wrestling is the best there is out of my division in the world.

“I can hands down say I have the best wrestling. I know a lot of girls are very hesitant with that, so all the strikers I’ve gone against have changed their game plan completely, just because they’re so worried about that takedown.”

And while Batara expects the threat of grappling to keep Silverio in check, she doesn’t expect it to make any difference in whether she can get the fight to the ground.

“I’m going to make my 105-pound self feel like I’m 150 pounds on the ground, whereas striking, there can be short, fast punches,” she said. “There’s no stopping me on the ground.”

After a face-off for cameras in Miami, Batara went back to camp with even more confidence that she would come out victorious.

“I saw the look on her face, and I was like, this girl is not ready for me,” she said. “There’s no chance. She’s going to try and strike with me. She looks very hard; she thinks she’s going to beat me. But I’m going to out-slick her, and I’m either going to take her down and TKO or submit her.”