Jenna Castillo wins MMA debut —

Jenna Castillo, a friend of the Daily Journal, put on a striking clinic Saturday afternoon, landing two vicious knees and securing a knockout in her MMA debut at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Phenomenal stuff. You can actually watch the fight here.
After the fight, she was kind enough to give me some time to chat. Here’s the post fight interview. I’ll post up the story of her win later on. Congratulations though to the baddest woman on the planet.

Jenna Castillo’s MMA debut

**** UPDATE ****
According to Jenna’s Facebook page: The first fight on the undercard will begin at 4:30 p.m. She’s predicting to be in action at 5 p.m. for those looking to see what time she’ll fight.
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Admittedly, it’s been a while since I posted anything, but, with the new gig and everything (plus a full load at SFSU) it’s been tough. I promise to do a better job.  Today though, I wanted to share a preview piece I wrote about Jenna Castillo and her mixed martial arts debut tomorrow, Saturday, at the HP Pavilion during Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg.

I totally stole this picture off of her Facebook page. Anyways, I first met Jenna while doing a story on a kickboxing event in Redwood City a couple of years ago. At the time, she was just coming up and boasted a 4-1 record. Since our last official chat, she’s gone 24-1 — that’s some major ass kicking.

Jenna will be trading in her kickboxing gloves and a squared circle for the octagon. Below is an excerpt of the story that ran in today’s edition of the Daily Journal. Good luck, Jenna!

By Julio Lara
Daily Journal Staff

Peninsula native and Muay Thai champion Jenna Castillo had made the Caltrain trip from Millbrae to San Jose many times before.

But four weeks ago, getting off at the San Jose Diridon station took on a whole different meaning for Castillo. It was then that she found out that the venue where she grew up watching the Sharks, watching concerts, watching fellow fighters and friends fight, would host her first fight as a professional mixed martial artist.

Talk about a trip.

“Why not now?” Castillo said of her move from Muay Thai kickboxing to MMA. “I think it’s a once in lifetime opportunity. I feel really lucky that it’s close to home. It’s a great feeling.”

After dominating the world of Muay Thai with a 28-2 record, Castillo will step into the octagon for her first bout as a professional Saturday night as part of the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg undercard at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Castillo will face another MMA debutante and Bay Area native Charlene Gellner — the fight is scheduled for three, five-minute rounds.

“It’s a lot of firsts for me,” Castillo said. “Fighting HP, fighting MMA, it’s my first pro fight. But I think it’s finally time I go pro and the opportunity came through about doing something like this. And now I get to do it so I’m really happy about it. It feels like it’s the chance of a lifetime. I mean, how many people get to go in there and follow their dreams?”

Read the rest of the story here.

If you’re looking to buy tickets, go here. Jenna’s fight starts at approximately 4 p.m.