Pilla Dominant Winner of 2014 Combat Zone Fighter of the Year

SALEM, N.H (Jan. 16, 2015). – Jake “The Gorilla” Pilla (Billerica, MA) is the undisputed Combat Zone Fighter of the Year for 2014.

Pilla, who racked up 92% of the votes for the honor, entered the campaign relatively untested with a record of 1-0 but then asserted his dominance in dramatic fashion to stay undefeated at 4-0.

He kicked off the year with a TKO victory at CZ 47 against Jordan Yantin which required only 30 seconds. In that match, Pilla recorded one of the most booming takedowns of 2014 and then threw a barrage of devastating punches to finish his opponent while improving to 2-0.

“The Gorilla” next earned a title fight where he would duke it out with another 2-0 fighter in Paulo Alves De Sousa for the vacant amateur featherweight belt at CZ 48. The match would be another quick one, as Pilla only needed 43 seconds to submit De Sousa via choke. Pilla’s performance against De Sousa also earned him 2014 Submission of the Year honors.

Looking for revenge, De Sousa’s teammate James Squires was next in line to try and take away the amateur featherweight title. At CZ 50, Pilla took on Squires and earned his third victory of 2014. Although finally getting pushed past the one minute mark, Pilla secured his fourth consecutive first round victory, forcing Squires to tapout via rear naked choke.

Although “The Gorilla” has less than four minutes of total time inside the cage, he has put together a 4-0 record and received recognition throughout New England as one of the top competitors in the featherweight division.

Pilla will be the main attraction on January 30 as he faces Danny Abad at CZ 52. The fight will be Pilla’s first of 2015 and he will try to successfully defend his title for the second time.

2014 COMBAT ZONE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR RESULTS

Results calculated with front office accounting for 67% and the fan vote counting for 33%

Jake Pilla – 92.08%

Write-In – 2.97%

Mike Scappichio – 2.31%

Jay Perrin – 1.65%

Carl Langston – 0.66%