Gilroy’s mixed martial artist Linda Pulido is no stranger to winning world titles. She has pushed her mind and body to its limits to become a world champion—and her bank account has felt the pressure, too.
Pulido has won 16 world titles—a combination of Filipino Martial Arts, Taekwondo and Muay Thai—and will travel to Rome July 13-19 to defend her title and earn her 17th. She also teaches Filipino martial arts and has helped eight students—three of whom already hold world titles—through regional and national competitions to make the United States team. The financial obligation of traveling to Italy, however, has forced several to give up their shot at fighting for or defending their titles.
After returning from a tour, local musician—and Pulido’s friend of more than 35 years—Ted Sanchez logged on to Facebook to see she was asking for donations to help with the cost of the trip. The idea of Pulido and her students being unable to travel to Rome and losing titles didn’t sit well with Sanchez and he immediately stepped in to help.
Sanchez decided to help the best way he knows how—through his music. He was already scheduled to perform at The Milias Restaurant from 7 to 10 p.m. June 6 and will donate all his earnings to Pulido and her students. But in the last week and a half, he organized another event called “A Night in Rome” with the West Side Grill, 8080 Suite 100 Santa Teresa Blvd., to raise money for the trip as well.
Sanchez will perform with Donald Elvis in the restaurant’s courtyard from 8 p.m. to midnight June 7 as part of a fundraising event. Tickets are $25 and include entertainment, raffles and an auction. The goal is to raise $3,000, which would just about cover the cost for one person traveling as the plane ticket alone cost $1,800. Fighters also must pay for lodging, food and their registration for the competition.
“I saw that and thought ‘That’s just not right,’” Sanchez said. “I said ‘We’ve got to do something.’ I came up with this idea that’s just kind of snowballed into this.”
Pulido began competing in the Filipino martial arts in 2005 and has held the world title ever since. Competitors fight with 26- to 27-inch sticks—one or two depending on the style—and are required to wear full gear, but still walk away with bumps and bruises. Her students, some of which are teenagers, have already paid the price in sweat, blood and tears to qualify for the international competition, she said. But in addition to covering the cost of themselves, her younger students would also require parents to travel to Italy, in turn they have decided to relinquish their spots on the world stage.
“If we don’t go, we lose our titles,” Pulido said. “We lose our gold and everything. We’re trying to do everything possible to get all four of us that have world titles to go. It’s been difficult. …I was heartbroken that I can’t take all of them. If I had the money, I would take every single one of them.”
Tickets for the June 7 event, “A Night in Rome,” can be purchased at the door and the dress code for the event is formal.
