LEMOORE -- Chad Mendes will finally make it official. The former Hanford High wrestling star will officially trade his wrestling shoes for a pair of 4-ounce mixed martial arts glove and will make his MMA debut at Palace Fighting Championship 10's "Explosive" Friday against Chico featherweight Giovanni Encarnacion (0-1).

"I'm very excited that Mendes is fighting and fighting here in Lemoore," PFC President Christian Printup said. "From the minute I knew his intentions were to enter the world of mixed martial arts after wrestling I had my sights set on him."

Printup isn't the only one excited to see Mendes back home. In anticipation for a large crowd coming locally, from San Luis Obispo and Sacramento where Mendes now trains with World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champ Urijah Faber, Printup and his staff elected to hold the fights outdoors for the second time in company history.

The outdoor venue holds nearly 2,500 more people than inside the Bingo Hall.

Mendes wrestled at Cal Poly for four seasons where he went 30-1 his senior season, falling in the 141-pound finals of the NCAA Championships to Ohio State's J Jaggers. He was named Pac-10 Wrestler of the Year and was an All-American for the second time.

"Everyone knows that he was a phenomenal wrestler," Printup said. "I'm just so excited that we are going to be part of the next step in this athlete's future. He's a young fighter and I don't want to put expectations on him, but I'm excited."

Fights will start at 7 p.m.

Encarnacion made his debut in the PFC and lost by submission to former champ Shawn Bias (13-6) of Oroville.

"I don't know a whole lot about my opponent other than he's a kick boxer and that he lost to Bias by choke," Mendes said. "He also hasn't fought MMA in over a year."

Meanwhile, Mendes has been absorbing some of the best training available at Ultimate Fitness in Sacramento.

"My training has been going well. I'm picking up everything pretty easily. I train with some of the best fighters and have some of the best coaches in the world," Mendes said. "I'm really liking jiu-jitsu right now, as it really translates to my style of wrestling really well."

But as everyone expects Mendes to be strong on the ground, Printup is interested in another part of Mendes' arsenal.

"I've been hearing a lot of good things about his right hand," Printup said. "Everyone that's around him right now compares him at this stage of his career to Urijah at the same stage and they say that Chad is further along, especially with his hands and his power.

"Obviously, with him training with Urijah and some one like Dustin Akbari, he's going to have that fluid style of fighting, but I'm hearing the right hand is lethal. He might be a Chuck Liddell minus 60 pounds if that's true."

Another thing to look for is how Mendes handles the PFC spotlight, which has crumbled many fighters.

"I've been competing since I was 4. I've had hundreds of matches and I know how to do this. I know how to hype myself up," Mendes said. "I'm just going to go in there and treat it like another wrestling match. This is nothing that I can't handle."

Hype is something that won't be needed for a lightweight match between Lemoore's Poppies Martinez (15-5) and Huron's Sergio Cortez (4-4).

Martinez has lost two of his last three fights and most recent was a controversial technical knockout at the hands of Cortez in May.

"I've been looking forward to this and whatever I start this time I'm going to finish on Friday," said Martinez, who was completely controlling the bout that was stopped with two minutes, 57 seconds left in the first period when Martinez fractured a rib and couldn't continue.

"I think that fight should have been a no contest, but he can take the victory and run with it. I'm out there this time to put on a show and this time it won't last long. He will leave hurt this time."

Cortez had a 3-fight win streak snapped by Oakdale's Justin Smitley (5-2) in July for the Gladiator Challenge 145-pound title.

Also in action are local's Luis Gonzales, Chris Botelho and Joey Cabezas.

Hanford's Gonzales (2-0) will look to keep his perfect record intact and stay in line for the vacant flyweight title picture against Oakland's Elbert Randle (0-1).

Lemoore's Botelho (4-3) is looking to bounce back after a loss and takes on Sacramento welterweight Anthony Bivins (2-1).

Cabezas (2-0) is one of Lemoore's hottest MMA prospects and he will take on Taft welterweight Billy Terry (3-8).

In the main event, Long Island, NY welterweight Phil Baroni (12-10) takes Enseneda, Mexico's Olaf Alfonso (7-8).

The PFC will also feature three championship bouts, as Porterville's Shawn Klarcyk (9-2) defends his bantamweight title against Tulare's Brandon Miller (3-2); Bakersfield's Brian Cobb (12-4) defends his lightweight crown against Temecula's David Gardner (14-9); Bakersfield's Bryan Travers (10-1) and Turlock's Jeremiah Metcalf (9-4) vie for the vacant welterweight title.

Tickets can be purchased at tickets.com, charge by phone 1-800-225-2277, at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino gift shop as well as MMA Elite Apparel shop located at 6640 Blackstone Ave in Fresno.

The weighins are slated for Thursday at 3 p.m. in the Den Sports Bar located on the third floor of the Palace.

In other fights:

San Luis Obispo bantamweight Antonio Banuelos (14-5) vs. Georgia's Bryan Goldsby (4-3).

Georgia flyweight David Mitchell (1-0) vs. Sacramento's David Suarez (1-1).

Sacramento lightweight Dustin Akbari (2-0) vs. Oakdale's Bill Theofanopoulos (3-0).

Porterville featherweight Joe Soto (2-0) vs. Stockton's Brandon Jinnies (3-9).

Fresno heavyweight Lavar Johnson (8-3) vs. Arizona's Vince Lucero (19-14).

Exeter bantamweight Mike Craddock (2-2) vs. Sacramento's Omar Sandoval (0-0).

Paris, France middleweight Xavier Foupa-Pokam (17-9) vs. Fresno's Richard Montoya (6-4).

(Sept. 23, 2008)