HOUSTON, TX, July 14, 2012 – Another night in Legacy Fighting Championship action is finally in the books after a tumultuous lead-up to LEGACY 12 that saw Mick Maynard’s most recent event lose planned co-main event participant Mike Bronzoulis due to injury and the planned flyweight title bout featuring Will Campuzano and Chad Robichaux due to unforeseen medical complications on Robo’s part.
Despite losing the main event, the crowd was left with 11 quality fight including five bouts airing on AXS TV’s Friday Night Fights.
Well-respected veteran Jay Hieron made his promotional debut in the new main event featuring himself and Blackzillians representative Romario Manoel da Silva.
“The Thoroughbred” was doing his part to control the pace of the bout on the feet in the first round before mixing things up with his wrestling attack in round two. Gaining the takedown and working from the top, Hieron was working for a choke when referee Kevin Hancock called what appeared to be a premature stoppage after missing a thumbs-up sign by the Brazilian. His corner immediately protested the finish but in the end, it is Hieron who gains a win by ref stoppage in his Legacy debut.
Also marking his Legacy debut with a successful victory was 6-time BJJ world champion Robert Drysdale. Taking on hometown favorite “Hurricane” Ike Villanueva was no sweat for the Las Vegas resident as he quickly secured the takedown and immediately transitioned to taking the back of his boxing-based opponent. From there it was elementary with Robert need less than two minutes in the first-round to finish things with a fight-ending armbar submission.
In the third fight of the night, Noel Ligon was able to earn a unanimous decision victory over Artenas “Machine Gun” Young in a bout largely contested on the feet. The two would feel each other out in the first with boxing on the minds of both men. Noel would mix things up in the second and third by adding his kicks to the mix. He remained the aggressor throughout as opposed to his counter-punching opponent towards the victory.
Similarly, Californian D.J. Linderman was able to prove his own technical prowess but in the wrestling department in his bout with local behemoth Dale “The Alpha Male” Mitchell. The Houstonian had proven to be a strong adversary winning his last few prior to this one but was unable to capitalize on that strength as “Da Protégé” relied on his own wrestling to muscle the fight to the ground and eventually gain the victory via ground-and-pound from back mount.
Last but not least on the main card, Gold Team representative Alan Nascimento came from behind to finally catch Terry Acker with a submission in round three. Acker seemed to be dominating every range of the fight heading into the third before Alan deftly set up a deep kneebar for the win.
As for the untelevised undercard, well we’d have to say that features some of the best action of the night.
Ray Blodget and Scotty Juarez gave it their all in a ‘Fight of the Night’ performance nobody saw coming. As many of our readers should know, Ray came into this one as a former Legacy 155 lbs. champion with only one loss on his record – to current UFC fighter Daniel Pineda. Facing him was the son of Silverback coach Tony who hadn’t fought in over a year. No lack of ring rust was evident though in this one as the two gave it their all for three straight rounds resulting in a win by the closest of margins to the 4OZ Fighter Blodget.
Justin Reiswerg, Jeremy Morrris, and Lester Batres would each pick up submission victories over Chop Rucker, Levi West, and Danny Rodriguez respectively to move their way up the ladder of contention in Legacy while Jared Chaffee did the same but by TKO over Jason Carter in his bout.
Last but not least was “American Bad Boy” Charlie Ontiveros making quite the impression in his TKO victory over Mark Garcia. Many wondered how he would handle this move to the pro ranks and the answer was – spectacularly. From lighting fast sidekicks to the face to high block punches, crane kicks, and backfists, Charlie showed every bit the lightning speed and technical proficiency that allowed for him to become a star at the amateur level. His performance last night left doubt that he could very well do the same thing in the pros if groomed properly.
Below are quick results, fight night awards, and our comprehensive photo gallery of last night’s fights with all 900+ shots. Make sure to “LIKE” Mike Calimbas Photography on Facebook for s special ‘Best of’ album later on this weekend.
LEGACY 12 RESULTS
Main Card
• Jay Hieron over Romario Manoel Da Silva by TKO, RD2
• Robert Drysdale over Isaac “Ike” Villanueva by submission, RD1 (armbar)
• Noel Ligon over Artenas Young by unanimous decision
• D.J. Linderman over Dale Mitchell by TKO, RD2
• Alan Nascimento over Terry Acker by submission, RD3 (kneebar)
Undercard
• Ray Blodget over Scotty Juarez by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Justin Reiswerg over Cris “Chop” Rucker by submission, RD. (triangle choke)
• Jeremy Morris over Levi West by submission, RD 2 (pillow choke)
• Lester Batres over Danny Rodriguez by submission, RD 1 (rare-naked choke)
• Charlie Ontiveros over Mark Garcia by TKO, RD2
• Jared Chaffee over Jason Carter by TKO, RD2
TXMMMA Fight Night Awards
► Fight of the Night – Ray Blodget vs. Scotty Juarez
► KO/TKO of the Night – Charlie Ontiveros’ fight ending sequence vs. Mark Garcia
► Submission of the Night – Robert Drysdale’s armbar vs. Ike Villanueva
LEGACY 12 – Photo Gallery and Slideshow
A select album of fight photos (about 200+) now available on our TXMMA Facebook Page. Click through the gallery below to see all 900+ shots on mikecalimbas.com – all available for print or purchase.