SANTA CRUZ >> Four Santa Cruz County mixed martial artists are on the fight card for the Central Coast Fighting Championships 5, which takes place at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on Saturday evening.

Promoter Daniel Compton gave Derek Des Champs kudos for seeking out local talent for the event, which also include jit-jitsu and stick-fighting. Compton is excited to see what unfolds, as 11 amateur fighters are making their debut.

Scotts Valley’s Lian Bragg (2-1-0-0) takes on Clovis’ Juanita Perez Ensign (1-0-0-0) for the strawweight title in the MMA main event.

Bragg, a 2020 Scotts Valley High grad who trains at FightCraft in San Jose, is fighting up a weight class.

“She has heavy hands and knows how to grapple,” Bragg said of her opponent. “It’s going to be a tough fight. I’ve put a bunch of work into this camp. I feel good about it, strong, and well prepared.”

It’s the only girls fight on the card.

Bragg, 22, said her coach Patrick Yanez prepares solid fight strategies. Teammate Veronica Mendoza will also be in her corner.

Bragg competed in Compton’s first promotion and lost to Isabel Diaz by unanimous decision. Since then, Bragg earned a split decision over Joechelle Gemino at Fight Night San Jose at Tech CU Arena on May 18, and won by submission of Vanessa Morales at 51Fifty Entertainment in Livingston on June 15.

“I’m excited to see how much she’s improved,” Compton said. “The girl she’s fighting is tough.”

Bragg played softball in high school. After she graduated, she saw a flier promoting free jiu-jitsu classes at her gym, so she joined. She also has experience in muay thai.

“I feel in love with it completely through jiu-jitsu,” Bragg said. “That’s when I knew this is what I want to do.”

Bragg has aspirations of turning pro, but no timeline to do so.

“I just want to get as much experience as a I can,” she said, noting that it’s hard to find opponents who weigh in the 105- to 110-pound range.

That’s why she’s fighting up a class this weekend, when she’ll have a hometown crowd supporting her.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “Title shot, main event fight for this promotion, where I had my first fight. I grew up going to the Civic when they had the orchestra play.”

A featherweight bout pits two locals against each other: San Jose’s Raul Ortiz (1-0-0-0) takes on Santa Cruz’s Rylan Oatey (0-0-0-0).

Ortiz, 25, is a Scotts Valley alum who competed on the Falcons’ wrestling team. He also wrestled for two community colleges and trained at Menlo College during the COVID-19 pandemic. He graduated with a degree in business marketing, works at Threshold Enterprises in Scotts Valley, and trains at Dark Horse Gym in San Jose, located a stone’s throw away from SAP Center.

Oatey makes his debut. That means Ortiz, who won by submission in 43 seconds over Kenneth Clark-Galbreath at Zhong Luo Cage Fighting Series at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco on Nov. 9, has no film on his opponent and knows little about him.

“I don’t care who I’m matched up to fight,” Ortiz said. “I focus on my cardio, make sure my technique is sharp. I’m going to go out, be healthy, and put on the best performance I can.”

Ortiz remembers losing a fight as an 8-year-old, going home and watching King of the Cage videos religiously. He started boxing when he was 13. As a high school wrestler, Ortiz told then-Falcons coach Fred Cortez that he was going to be a fighter when he got older.

Cortez won’t be in attendance Saturday, but Ortiz said, “I know that he’d be really happy to see me.”

Ortiz was a foster child, a troubled youth who bounced around schools and eventually settled in Scotts Valley. He didn’t get his act together until moving in with Scotts Valley’s Tom and Barbara Tansy. The couple adopted him on April 21, 2019. The Tansys aren’t fight fans, but Barbara will be cheering her son on in person Saturday for the first time.

Ortiz said he’s going to give it his all. “I’ve got a gas tank right now. I’m ready to hit it hard,” he said.

Ortiz is just happy to be competing again. He put in a lot of hard work while at Menlo and is upset that he never got to put on an Oaks singlet and wrestler for the four-year school. He focused on academics and mapped out his post-graduation goals as a college senior.

“It was definitely a missed opportunity,” he said. “I left a lot on the table. There’s a chip on my shoulder. I’m hungry right now. It’s definitely old fuel for the fire.”

The other local competing is Soquel’s Luciano Than (0-0-0-0). He’ll make his debut against Hayward’s Israel Mejia (0-0-0-0) in their lightweight bout.

San Jose’s Ivan Batinich and Justin Baesman of Reno, Nevada, will square off in the jiu-jitsu main event. Other jiu-jitsu fights include: Carlos Padilla vs. Ruben Chavez-Garcia, Jacob Horton vs. Myke Lujan, Lorenzo Figueroa vs. Ivan Gonzalez, Forrest Gleitsman vs. Matt Quinn, PJ McGrane vs. Brandon Lam, Jordan Lou vs. Drake Smith, Edwin De Los Santos vs. Fabio Sousa, Zach Ticker vs. Montae Price, and Aris Arguello vs. Tyler Perez

In stick-fighting action, Jose Mancillas takes on Chris Manisay, Patrick Pinson faces Darwin Caballero, and Dave Valesquez battle Jason Inay.