Hugo Madera

Hugo "The Hornet" Madera is a retired Osarian mixed-martial artist who competed in the ANSF, in the Lightweight division. He is most notable for being a multiple ANSF Lightweight champion, and formerly held the title of ANSF White Tiger. He has also competed in the Osarian Combat Federation and trained at the well-known Osarian gym, Henchman Factory, under Olufemi Koné and Benni Watson. Upon retirement, Madera moved into coaching, taking up a trainer's role at Henchman Factory's Firewood gym.

History

Madera was born in Carbonia, northern Fourge in the summer of 2170, and was a keen athlete in his early years. He began taking Muay Thai classes at age nine, and developed a love of combat sports, becoming a huge fan of the OCF, and the legendary omnifighter, Maxi Killick. By age twelve, he was competing regularly in Junior Ace tournaments and won the Fourgian Championship at age thirteen under the name Tiger Sanchéz. His success within the Junior Ace organisation granted him access to an OCF-affiliated gym in his hometown, where he honed his skills at Flaming Fists Gym, under Master Michael Armstrong, winning more tournaments, and building a strong reputation as a young, up-and-coming fighter.

His fight career was temporarily put on hold when he moved to Firewood to study Physiotherapy at Firewood University, but he was convinced to enter a collegiate kickboxing tournament early in his first year. After winning the regional tournament convincingly – the computerized scoring system suggested he out-struck his opponents four to one on average – he was approached by Olufemi Koné's gym Henchman Factory and offered the chance to train with them part-time. Madera accepted, and won the Super Junior Fist of the North Tournament in February 2188 as one of Henchman Factory's representatives, earning the nickname The Hornet, due to what Olufemi Koné called his tendency to "only sting when cornered", in reference to his elusive, defensive style, punctuated by frequent counter-strikes.

Super Junior career

As a regional champion, Madera was invited to compete in the Junior Ace nationals, in the Super Junior division, but declined due to injury. Once recovered, he would return to competition and claim victory in two inter-regional Super Junior tournaments, and the national collegiate championship, attracting some attention from professional organisations. In February 2189, Madera won the Super Junior Fist of the North Tournament for the second consecutive year. He accepted the invite to the Junior Ace nationals in April and defeated Kazumi Kenta to be crowned national Super Junior Lightweight champion.

Madera's Super Junior triumph, combined with his national collegiate championship, attracted the interest of the OCF, who offered Madera a professional contract. He initially declined, in order to focus on his studies, but later signed the OCF deal on his nineteenth birthday and withdrew from university to train full-time. Madera made his professional MMA debut in September 2189, facing Marco Banderas on the undercard of OCF Fight Night 88, in Schlossberg. The fight ended in a unanimous decision victory for Madera, and fight commentator Josh Stinson noted his excellent counterpunching technique, stating that "his counterpunching is reminiscent of a young Andre MacLean, who has undoubtedly taught this kid a thing or two in Firewood".

OCF Career

Madera's OCF career started well, following up his debut win over Banderas with consecutive knockout victories over Kurt Saulsbury and Nelson Kirch on OCF Fight Night. With his fanbase slowly growing, he was promoted to main event status, and signed a contract to fight former OCF Lightweight champion Erik Remer, in the opening fight of OCF Showdown in February 2190, in Remer's hometown of Alano Dynapolis. Madera suffered his first loss at any level that night, losing by unanimous decision.

He would recover from the setback to defeat Julio Landaverde by unanimous decision at OCF Fight Night 101 two months later, and post-fight, he took to opportunity to call out Remer, stating that he felt that the result had been "a bit lucky" for the Dynapolitan, and claiming that he wanted to "avenge the loss". Remer accepted the challenge, even going as far as to accept that Madera was "a talented fighter" and respecting his courage in calling out a top 15 ranked fighter. At OCF Vengeance in July 2190, Madera defeated Remer by technical knockout in the second round, elevating him to the top 20 of the OCF's Lightweight MMA rankings, though a groin strain injury prevented him from moving any higher for almost nine months.

Madera's last fight in the OCF came in June 2191, when he made his return to the cage for the opening fight of OCF Impact, facing Marc Johnson. Despite some suggesting signs of 'ring rust', Madera overwhelmed Johnson, earning a TKO victory a little over halfway through the first round. Since his ranking had suffered due to his prolonged period of inactivity, the OCF refused to restore Madera to main event status, insisting that he fight lower ranked fighters to get back to his previous position. Madera refused, and left the OCF with a 6–1 record, to fight in the ANSF.

ANSF Career

Hugo Madera signed with the ANSF in September 2191 to much fanfare, and was awarded a title shot within a month, facing reigning Lightweight champion Jew Kresnik at ANSF 2. Madera triumphed in the second round via technical knockout, and was awarded the ANSF Lightweight championship.

Madera would face Kresnik twice more in the coming months, successfully defending his title on both occasions. Notably, he ended the first of those defences in the fourth round with a spinning back kick, picking up the Knockout of the Night award. During this period, Madera was the only Osarian fighter in the ANSF, and as a result, his fanbase was steadily increasing abroad as well as in Osarius. By the time he made his third title defence, again Vulshain's Zhou Troski, he was already close to being one of the most popular fighters in the ANSF.

The title fight against Troski at ANSF 55 saw Madera show off his Muay Thai expertise, knocking out his opponent with a high kick late in the first round. The victory put him just one win away from the title of ANSF Tiger – or Dragon, as it was referred to at the time – and saw his fanbase overseas explode. Madera's fourth title defense would also come against Zhou Troski, at ANSF 85. This time, a liver kick shut down the challenger and gave The Hornet a technical knockout victory and the prestigious title of ANSF Tiger. After his fourth title defense, OSN's Tim Richards described Madera as "untouchable", and veteran OCF commentator Ron Ocean revealed his admiration for the Fourgian, and noted that the training with Benni Watson at Henchman Factory was evident in the manner of his recent victories.

Madera's next title defense would be against the dangerous fighter from The Lost Earth, Jackson Tarkheal. The two fought to a decision after five rounds at ANSF 113, and Tarkheal came up short. The two would stage a rematch at ANSF 142, and again, Madera would best Tarkheal over five rounds, claiming a sixth title defense, again by unanimous decision.

Shortly after, Madera would suffer his first defeat in ANSF, when he faced Thomas Gus of Mapletish at ANSF 153. After four rounds of bitter, back-and-forth action, Madera's improved ground game came unstuck, and he was forced to tap out for the first time in his career. Thomas Gus' kneebar had caught him out, and Madera admitted post-fight that he "didn't see it coming", but also made clear his intention to reclaim the title.

Madera dropped into the number one contender tournament after the fight, and toiled to wins over old foes Jew Kresnik and Zhou Troski, either side of a third round knockout of Drew Longbottom, to earn another shot at the Lightweight championship at ANSF 164. This time, he came out on top, defeating Thomas Gus by unanimous decision after five rounds. After the fight, Tim Richards floated the idea that the two might genuinely be considered rivals, as their two encounters had been close fights, while Ron Ocean suggested that Madera had "got a little sloppy ... having dominated the division for so long".

Personal life

Hugo is married to fellow athlete, and Aquilliano judoka, Ariella Melendez. The couple have two children together; Gloria and Domenico.

Madera is very close to his mother, Ana Maria, who raised him single-handedly after his father left the family in 2176. As a result of his father's desertion, Madera refused to use his birth name in competition for many years, preferring to use his junior ring alias Tiger Sanchéz whenever possible. He relented only at the behest of his mother, who also gave him her blessing to use the Madera family name.

Professional MMA Record

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Win	7–1	Jew Kresnik	TKO (punches)	ANSF 2		2	1:31	Imperial Stadium Muttville, Adun	Won ANSF Lightweight championship
Win	6–1	Marc Johnson	TKO (punches)	OCF Impact		1	2:43	Chamber of the Serpent Turic, Osarius	Last fight in the OCF
Win	5–1	Erik Remer	TKO (punches)	OCF Vengeance		2	4:19	Kart Hago Koliseum Kart Hago, Osarius
Win	4–1	Julio Landaverde	Unanimous decision	OCF Fight Night 101		3	5:00	Fourge Athletic Centre Schlossberg, Osarius
Loss	3–1	Erik Remer	Unanimous decision	OCF Showdown		3	5:00	The Qube Alano, Osarius
Win	3–0	Nelson Kirch	KO (high kick)	OCF Fight Night 97		3	0:39	Kyobe Steel Cage Kyobe, Osarius
Win	2–0	Kurt Saulsbury	KO (knee)	OCF Fight Night 94		2	3:17	The Grand Pit Yurendam, Osarius
Win	1–0	Marco Banderas	Unanimous decision	OCF Fight Night 88		3	5:00	Fourge Athletic Centre Schlossberg, Osarius	Professional MMA debut

References

1. ^ http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=7816795#p7816795
2. ^ http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=8124869#p8124869