Latin American Prospects will host its fifth amateur combat sports event at Gimnasio Independencia in Tijuana on Sunday, May 3. The card, billed as “LAP 05: Soto Jr. vs. Rodríguez,” features roughly 30 bouts spanning mixed martial arts, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and kickboxing.
The main event is a 145-pound amateur championship fight. Jermaine “Triple J” Soto Jr., training out of West Coast Combat Center in Mission Hills, California, will face Doedk Rodríguez of Entram Gym. The co-main event is a heavyweight clash between Daniel “Amenaza Cubana” Velazco Gómez, originally from Camagüey, Cuba, and Tijuana’s Marco Contreras of Kino Judo Club.
A Family-Friendly Fight Card
LAP technical director Raúl Arvizu said the organization secured the venue with support from IMDET (Instituto Municipal del Deporte de Tijuana), the city’s municipal sports institute. Arvizu called Gimnasio Independencia “an important site for sport in the city” and stressed the event is designed as a family-friendly outing, not a bar or nightlife event.
The LAP series positions itself as a regional development project for amateur fighters in Baja California. Rather than professional purses, the draw for competitors is structured matchmaking and experience across multiple combat disciplines on one card. The multi-discipline format gives fighters at different stages of training a chance to compete in MMA, submission grappling, or striking.
Cross-Border Fighter Pipeline
The Soto Jr. vs. Rodríguez main event is a good example of the cross-border talent flow in Baja’s fight scene. Soto Jr. trains just across the border in San Diego’s North County, while Rodríguez represents a Tijuana gym. Amateur events like LAP 05 often serve as proving grounds for fighters who later move into professional promotions on both sides of the border.
Gimnasio Independencia is located in central Tijuana and is one of the city’s established public sports venues. Ticket and schedule details had not been publicly listed at the time of the announcement.
The event was first reported by Semanario ZETA Tijuana.