Lozoya trained with Penha until his was 17, and then moved to North Idaho to wrestle in college. He’d also make the trek 30 minutes west to Spokane, Washington to train at Sikjitsu, sharing the mats with the likes of Michael Chiesa, Sam Sicilia, and Terrance McKinney working under the watchful eye of head coach Rick Little.
During his first year of college, a friend asked him if he wanted to go to Montana and take a fight, so he agreed. He landed in the cage opposite current UFC bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley, losing the fight by disqualification in the fifth round as a result of landing errant shots to the back of the head.
He eventually enlisted in the military, beginning with the National Guard before going active duty, ultimately landing in the Army Rangers, where he met Connor Matthews, an undefeated featherweight prospect expected to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series later this summer.
Once he completed his military service, Lozoya was trying to figure out his next steps, and with Matthews training under Lauzon and Lozoya’s wife eyeing enrollment at Harvard, a move to Massachusetts made too much sense.
“Connor Matthews is one of my guys that has been training with us since he was a kid, and Connor met Carlos in the military,” said Lauzon “They trained a lot, became boys, and now we get Carlos, who is a huge asset — a nice kid, so quiet and polite, but an absolute f****** savage when he steps into the cage.”
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That savageness was on full display last month when he ventured to Houston and took on Villarreal, a local staple coming off a quality win over Contender Series alum Jacob Silva.
From the outset, Lozoya took control of the fight. He walked down Villarreal, attacking with clean, powerhouse strikes when the two were standing, transitioning fluidly to the canvas when he looked to wrestle. Each time Villarreal looked to counter or escape, Lozoya was one step ahead of him, floating to the next position or punishing him with a heavy kick to the body or clean right hand that kept him hemmed in with little room to maneuver.
After getting the fight to the canvas in the second, the streaking flyweight hopeful hunted for the finish, earning the stoppage as a torrent of elbows rained down, leaving Villarreal bloodied on the mat.
“Randy has some notable fights on his record, and he was on a three-fight winning streak, beating a Contender Series veteran,” Lozoya said of his most recent opponent. “I knew not to take him lightly, I trained real hard, and I just knew my grappling would be on a different level. I knew once I got on top, he would play a lot of jiu jitsu with me, but I’m not doing jiu jitsu when I’m fighting — I’m doing MMA, I’m fighting.