HOUSTON, TX, July 26, 2011 – Fresh of a successful and thrilling debut on HDNet, the Legacy FC promotion is already busy setting up what should be their sophomore appearance in front of nationwide audiences with Legacy Fighting Championship 8, scheduled for September 17th in Houston.
The promotion announced today that “The Secret Weapon” Pete Spratt would be coming back and vying for their vacant welterweight title after former champion Mike “The Greek Bronzoulis vacated the belt to move on to Strikeforce. Spratt recently competed at last weekend’s Legacy FC 7 card and has been the toast of internet highlight reels courtesy of his one-punch knockout over Antonio “King Kong” Flores.
Taking Spratt on for the belt is another title-minded veteran in legendary Brazilian Jorge “Macaco” Patino of Houston’s Gold Team. Patino will enter this bout fresh of a submission win over TUF-veteran Cleburn Walker this past April at Austin’s KOK promotion and will draw on over fifteen years of MMA experience to take on the Texas veteran, Spratt.
Also appearing on the card is Andrew Craig, who returns for the first time since winning the promotion’s middleweight title against a very worthy challenger and perhaps another future superstar in BVMMA’s Bubba Bush. Craig will be taking on the always-tough Eric Schambari this time around. As a WEC and Bellator veteran who can count Mat Horwich and John Bryant amongst those he has beaten, look for Schambari to pose the biggest challenge yet for Team Tooke’s Andrew Craig. With the champion having beaten Bush and another Texas mainstay in Jon Kirk in his last two fights, this challenge may be just the fight he needs to push him towards the UFC. We’ll see if he’s up the challenge on September 17th.
Speaking of tough challenge, look for the aforementioned Bubba Bush to face a stiff one himself in his next bout. The “Fighting Aggie” will be coming down from College Station to take on Longview resident Josh Foster, who recently submitted another up-and-coming fighter in Hayward Charles just last weekend at XKO 11 in Dallas. The Jorge Gurgel Texas fighter was previously known for his hands having viciously knocked out Terrance Ferguson at IXFA but wit this last submission win, Foster is slowly showing himself to be a well-rounded, tough-as-nails fighter that will be a load to be reckoned with for anyone. But can he stop Bubba Bush’s takedowns? That’s the key question.
The rest of the Legacy FC 8 card in its current form is chock full of plenty more exciting matchups, like IXFA 205 champion “Hurricane” Ike Villanueva taking on Silverback Fight Club’s Larry “Tae Kwon” Crowe and Pittsburgh’s Ricardo Talavera returning to Houston to face former collegiate football player Rashon Lewis.
Perhaos even more exciting for astute Texas MMA fans is the presence of top talent from around the state, like XKO bantamweight champion Steve “Ocho” Peterson who is taking on Steve Garcia and Beaumont’s Cody Williams, who is matched against Nate Garza.
Basically, we could go on and on about this card right now. If it stays to current form, it may be one of the most anticipated lineups ever in Texas.
Take a look at the current lineup of bouts and share your own thoughts via your comments.
Legacy Fighting Championship 8 – Currrent Fight Card
170 – Daniel Kim vs Mark Garcia- 185 – Bubba Bush vs. Josh Foster
- 170 – Lee Higgins vs Scotty Juarez
- 170 – Ricardo Talavera vs. Rashon Lewis
- 170 – John Malbrough vs. Jeff Rexroad
- 135 – Cody Williams vs. Nate Garza
- 125 – Jimmy Flick vs. Chad Robichaux
- 185 – Ike Villanueva vs. Larry Crowe
- 170 – Alex Morono v. Evert Gutierrez
- 135 – Steve Garcia v. Steven Peterson
- 185 – Andrew Craig vs Eric Schambari
- 170 Title – Jorge “Macaco” Patino vs Pete Spratt
Legacy Fighting Championship 7 – Pete Spratt vs. Antonio Flores
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