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Philippines, 24 Oct 2025 |
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Jonathan “Mongoose” Burdick: The Fighting RT Strikes Again By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT PhilBoxing.com Mon, 21 Aug 2023  Cow Palace (Daly City, California) August 19, 2023 To say that Jon Burdick has been busy the past Spring and Summer may be an understatement. A full-time stint as a registered respiratory therapist in concert with his union bargaining duties could not stop the 34-year old Burdick from plotting his return. He quietly logged in the necessary miles of roadwork, climbed stadium stairs, and sparred relentlessly after his day job at the hospital. The Mongoose punctuated his behind-the-scenes training at the Catch MMA Gym (Hayward, California) with an emphatic comeback win—a unanimous three-round decision win over scrappy Francisco Esceguera of the Bay Area Fight Academy. The Burdick-Esceguera tussle resembled a scientific boxing match with sporadic clinches, grappling and kicking. There were no titles on the line, but the MMA match was the best of the night. Rounds 1 and 3, were all Burdick’s due to his relentless left jabs followed by right straights and crosses that bloodied Esceguera’s nostrils. The short, stocky and very game 29-year old Esceguera pocketed the second round with effective take-downs but was unable to submit the slippery Burdick. It was an action-packed affair that rendered my kumpadres Raul Rodriguez, Rudy Teodosio and my amiga Yeny Moreno-Rodriguez speechless. In my opinion, Luisito Espinosa (who once fought at Cow Palace) and Master Danovis “Dee” Pooler would have been as happy as I was seeing Jonathan Burdick utilize his reach advantage and newfound weapons— the spearing jabs followed by his right straights and crosses that found their mark. 
(L-R) Raul Rodriguez, Jonathan Burdick, Yeny Moreno-Rodriguez, Rudy Teodosio and one aspiring writer posing as a fighter. 
In a series of firsts, Jonathan Burdick becomes, as far as I know, the first and only Registered Respiratory Therapist to win a sanctioned fight of any kind at the fabled Cow Palace. Burdick also announced on his Instagram social media page mongoose_mma that he is ready to settle down. Said Jonathan, “I would like to announce to everyone that last week I became happily engaged to my girlfriend of 3 years Lauren. You are beautiful and a shining star in my life, I can't wait to get married to you and build our universe together.” 
A retrospective on the history of the historic Cow Palace reveals a storied connection to the fight game; the great Joe Louis followed by Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Eder Jofre, Muhammad Ali, Gabriel”Flash Elorde, Sandy Saddler, Alexis Arguello and Luisito “Lindol” Espinosa all fought here. If a venue can have a bullet point resume, here is one featuring The Cow Palace which opened in 1941. Previous tenants: • San Francisco Seals (WHL) (1961-1966) • San Francisco Saints (ABL) (1961-1962) • San Francisco Warriors (NBA) (1962-1964, 1966-1971) • San Jose Earthquakes (NASL) (1975-1984) • San Francisco Shamrocks (PHL) (1977-1978) • San Francisco Fog (MISL) (1980-1981) • San Jose Sharks (NHL) (1991-1993) • San Francisco Spiders (IHL) (1995-1996) • San Jose Wolves (AIFA) (2010) • San Francisco Bulls (ECHL) (2012-2014) • San Francisco Shock (OWL) (2020-present) Events held at Cow Palace • NCAA Basketball Final Four (1960) • NBA All-Star Game (1964) • Site both the 1956 and 1964 Republican National Convention • SF Examiner Games 1960’s and 70’s (World-class track and field event) • Hosted roller derby teams including the Bay Bombers • Hosted Barnum & Bailey and the Circus • Disney on Ice • Champions on Ice • Sesame Street Live • Cirque du Soleil • Grand National Rodeo , Horse & Stock Show since 1942 (except for a break from 1942-1945?due to WW II) • Professional Wrestling • Concerts: To name a few, The Beatles, Grateful Dead, The Who, ZZ Top, Rod Stewart, Yes, Metallica, Elton John, U2, Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney & Wings, and Prince. Operator: • Department of Food and Agriculture, 1-A District Agricultural Association Capacity; • Basketball: 14,000 • Ice hockey: 13,550 • Concerts: 16,500 Address: • Cow Palace Arena • 2600 Geneva Ave • Daly City, California • 94014 Saturday Night’s Mixed Martial Arts Extravaganza featuring the best MMA artists in The Bay Area was a collaboration between San Francisco's own Dragon House and First Round Fight (FRF). Click here to view a list of other articles written by Emmanuel Rivera, RRT.  |
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