Headlining the event in the 185 title match is Elite MMA brown belt Robert Yamashita taking on Kaileb Cummins for the middleweight belt. Yamashita hasn’t been seen on the MMA scene since TKO’ing Robert Russell at Lonestar Beatdown 12 way back in Nov. 2009 but has beena active on the BJJ and submission grappling circuit. Having most recently won the expert division belt at Brett Boyce and Seth Daniels‘ 2011 Texas Open while also claiming a lengthy experience in traditional martial arts as a karate stylist, Robert will sure be looking to make a splash in his return. Meanwhile, his opponent Kaileb Cummins will enter this bout having won his last two Legacy Amateur bouts over Michael Eaglin and Jeremy Hunter. Cummins sports a current record of 3-2 overall while fighting all his bouts under the Legacy banner.
Next up is 2011 TXMMA Purple Belt of the Year Julian Vega of Elite MMA taking on Dallas product of Delis Borges from Prevlasky’s Muay Thai for the 155 belt. Vega heads into this bout with just a 1-0 record in MMA but he’ll head into his first title fight with a grappling prowess rarely seen at this stage of the game. If you’d like to see a sample, skip ahead to the bottom of this post and watch one of his most recent grappling matchups vs. former Legacy 170 pro champion Levi Forrest.
As for Eric Garcia, the original title contender for 155, he’s going pro. “Me and Jace (Pitre, Team Tooke MMA Coach) decided it would best to leave the ammys behind at this point,” he told us. “I’ve had some bad luck with guys getting hurt and falling out last minute. I also promised myself that I wouldn’t do any last minute weight cuts like last time. I train very hard and put lots if time into it every time I’m scheduled to fight. Hopefully when I do take that step into the pros I have better luck!”
Also in championship action, upstart 19 year old phenom Ramiro Cortina also returns to Legacy to defend his bantamweight belt for the first time. Cortina claimed that title in a convincing TKO victory over Manny Lozoya at this past October’s Legacy Amateur Series 6. With this bout, he will now be looking to extend his winning streak to three in a row. This time around, he’ll have to get past Roberto Sanchez, a student of the famed Gracie Barra coach Vinicius “Draculinho” Magalhaes. Sanchez was last seen at Legacy Amateur Series 4 beating Casey Jones by D’Arce choke. Look for him to try and capitalize on that submission prowess as he looks to earn his own belt at Legacy.
Wrapping things up for the title bouts of the evening is an exciting flyweight title match between Ryan Hollis of the Hard Head Hitters and Ricky Turcios of Gracie Barra North Houston. Both these guys are known to be exciting fighters after coming off wins over Alex Ramirez and Eduan Espaillat respectively so look for both of them to be head hunting when that bells rings.
Below is the entire rendition of the 7th Legacy Amateur Series as it stands today. We’ll have more on this event as it nears here on TXMMA.com.
Jan 21st Legacy Amateur Series Fight Card (As of 1/13/11)
BLUE CORNER
Fight 1) 155 – Marcus St. Germain 0-0 Gold Team vs. Luis Lara 0-1 Metro
Fight 2) 185 – Jacob Elliott 0-0 Castro’s Fight Pit vs. Mike Eaglin 0-2 Elite MMA
Fight 3) 145 – Chris Tornero 0-1 SLMMA
Fight 4) 155 – Brandon Hanna 2-2 Unleashed MMA vs. John Gorrell 1-1 Elite MMA
Fight 5) 155 – Leroy Vazquez 0-0 SBA
Fight 6) 185 – Angelus McFarlane 1-0 Bam Bam vs. Roceal Houston 0-0 Soliz MMA
Fight 7) 135 – Eric Hendon 4-4 Death Row MMA vs. Mike Trihn 0-1 Metro Fight Club
Fight 8) 145 – Omar Hillail 2-1 Gracie Barra
Fight 9) 170 – Ricardo Perez 1-1 SBA
Fight 10) 125 – Hugo De La Fuente 1-1 Bushi Ban vs. Jacob Silva 4-2 Silverback MMA
Legacy Amateur Series Flyweight Title
Fight 11) 125 – Ryan Hollis 5-1 Hard Head Hitters vs. Ricky Turcios 2-0 G.B. North Houston
Legacy Amateur Series Bantamweight Title
Fight 12) 135 – Roberto Sanchez 1-0 Gracie Barra vs. Ramiro Cortina 2-0 Silverback/RSKA
Legacy Amateur Series Lightweight Title
Fight 13) 155 – Delis Borges 2-1 Prevlasky’s Muay Thai
Legacy Amateur Series Middleweight Title
Fight 14) 185 – Kaileb Cummins 3-2 Death Row MMA vs. Robert Yamashita 1-0 Elite MMA
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