Alberto Del Rio appointed as president of Combate Americas

Additional notes added by Dave Meltzer

The former Alberto Del Rio has found a new job.

Combate Americas announced on Tuesday night that Del Rio, now known as Alberto El Presidente, has joined the organization as its president. Combate Americas is a mixed martial arts promotion geared towards Hispanic fans.

“El Presidente” was Del Rio’s backstage nickname at times in WWE because he had the look and came across like a politician

He will be essentially in the Dana White role, but unlike White, more of a figurehead as the public face of the group headed by Campbell McLaren, who ran the UFC in its early days.

The promotion announced that he will be introduced on their show on Friday night at the Turning Stone Resort Center in Verona, NY. Both Del Rio and girlfriend Paige are in New York for the show and will be doing media in his new role all week.

The press release issued by the promotion boasted that he would be involved in “all aspects” of athlete relations and development.

“I am excited to enter a new chapter in my career in combat sports, and to have the opportunity to spearhead the Combate Americas mission of delivering to fight fans everywhere, an authentic and first-rate Hispanic MMA product,” Del Rio said.

Combate Americas runs live MMA events aimed at the Hispanic audience with shows on UFC Fight Pass in English.

Aside from his career in professional wrestling, Del Rio competed in 14 professional MMA fights. He was a world class Greco Roman wrestler who was 9-5 as a heavyweight MMA fighter while at the same time being a main event star with CMLL in Mexico, before later signing with WWE.

Del Rio had teased that he was in talks with the promotion during his press conference after leaving WWE. Del Rio parted ways with WWE in September after coming to a mutual release with the company.

Recently, Del Rio has found himself generating headlines again after he alleged that he was stabbed earlier this month prior to boarding a plane for a scheduled appearance at AAA’s Heroes Inmortales show.

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