Those that have been following Texas MMA for the past five years or so know much of Legacy’s history – from small beginnings as a promotion based out of College Station to what is now, a burgeoning national brand with global ambitions in terms of bringing the world’s best to fight at their events.
Since July 2011, the Legacy Fighting Championship has been on air with AXS TV (formerly HDNet). The promotions has featured veteran fighters like Pete Spratt, Carlo Prater, and Jorge “Macaco” Patino while grooming future stars of the sport – like recently graduated Legacy champions Daniel Pineda and Andrew Craig who have both moved on to find success on yet another larger stage in the UFC.
Now little over a year since their national broadcast debut, Legacy will hit another landmark when it takes center stage with LEGACY 13 emanating from the Dallas Convention Center as part of the Europa Get Fit and Sports Expo.
As one, if not the largest fitness and sports convention of its kind touring the country, Europa features everything from pro bodybuilding to crossfit to arm wrestling competitions and much more at their events.
Despite all that they’ve done for years, LEGACY 13 will mark the very first time a professional MMA promotion will be a part of a Europa event.
This show can be expected to serve as a wonderful introduction to the world of MMA for the less initiated while serving as another awesome night of action for hardcore fans of the sport.
Specifically fans residing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area should pay special notice to this card.
Aside from the fact that it’s a good opportunity to catch a Texas-based but nationally-accredited MMA event locally in the Metroplex, this event will feature some of the top talent from the area.
To clarify, yes there are established names like Fight to Win (Denver) champion Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis and former NCAA wrestling champ Jared Rosholt who face each other in the main event along with former The Ultimate Fighter cast member Chris Tickle on the card but the bulk of it focuses more on tomorrow’s stars – competitors from in and around Dallas-Fort Worth who are looking to stake their claims as the top Texans to watch in the near future.
This includes competitors like Fitness Fight Factory’s Evan Cutts, an undefeated teammate of UFC fighter Johnny Bedford who’s already beaten the likes of BJ Penn’s highly-touted brother Reagan Penn early in his young career. He’ll be taking on another top prospect in Sean “Black Magik” Spencer, a 25 year old boxer/wrestler who’s beaten some tough competition of his own.
Then there’s Bellator veteran Steven Peterson taking on another taken another undefeated prospect out of Octagon MMA by the name of Matt Hobar along with recent AXS TV winner Ryan Benoit taking on Texas ironman Randy Villarreal.
The list goes on and on with prospects to watch on this card but the bottom line is that LEGACY 13 should be a good one for viewers on AXS TV and especially for the fans on hand LIVE at the event.
Add in the rest of the Europa Get Fit and Sports Expo lineup including the 2012 Europa / Torque Championships grappling tournament on Saturday and this should be one heck of an action-packed weekend.
As is customary here on TXMMA.com, our readers can expect pre-fight interviews, fight breakdowns, and additional in-depth coverage leading all the up to LEGACY 13 at Europa on August 17th so make sure to bookmark the site or follow us on Facebook to get all the updates until fight night.
Here is the current LEGACY 13 fight card as it stands today.
Main Card (Televised on AXS TV)
Heavyweight Title – Derrick Lewis v. Jared Rosholt
170 – Evan Cutts v. Sean Spencer
145 – Chris Tickle v. Doug Frey
155 – Donnie Bell v. Clayton Robinson
155 – Steven Peterson v. Matt Hobar
170 – Hayward Charles v. Russell Brewer
135 – Randy Villareal v. Ryan Benoit
Prelims
170 – Lior Shporen v. Sean Holden
155 – Casey Williams v. Burt McDonald
145 – David Armas v. Quaint Kempf
135 – Ivan “JP” Cole v. Evan Martinez
145 – Ray Rodriguez v. Joseph Salas