HOUSTON, TX, August 25, 2012 – The Legacy Amateur Series returned to the Houston Arena Theater tonight for the second time this year and the first since LAM 7 this past January.
This time around, Legacy Amateur Series 9 featured twelve bouts of action including two title fights in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions.
The show was originally scheduled to feature as many as two more additional bouts with Colin Wright taking on Tony Orozco Jr. and Kolton Englund taking on Luis Lara before paperwork issues with the state took both of those bouts out of consideration for this event.
Despite the shortened schedule, LAM 9 still delivered yet another exciting night of action for Houston MMA fans courtesy of all the young fighters who stepped into the cage at the arena to up their experience and lay it on the line.
Highlighting the event were the two title fights of the evening crowning two new Legacy amateur champions.
It was another close one in the flyweight title rematch between Gracie Barra’s Ricky Turcios and Silverback’s Jacob Silva this time around in the same vein as their first fight at Legacy Amateur Series 8 this past April. The only thing that changed this time around was the result with Ricky winning this one via split decision after utilizing his ground skills to control just a little more of the bout than the first time around.
The two now stand at 1-1 after two bouts with the belts changing hands. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see these two go at it once again in a rubber match either at Legacy Amateur Series or in the pro ranks down the road.
Elsewhere in title action, Turcios’ teammate Kody Williams was able to use his considerable wrestling advantage to take the decision victory over a game opponent in Eagle Pass-based fighter Paulo Alcozer. A predominantly Kajukembo-style based striker, Paulo came to fight but had no match in the end for how Kody was able to control the fight on the ground after taking it there with well-timed takedowns.
With this win, Gracie Barra The Woodlands now takes their second Legacy amateur belt back to the Woodlands in a very successful night of action for the team and coach Todd Moore.
Also successful on the night was Garcia Promotions head man Eric Garcia. Stepping into the cage for the fourth time in his amateur career, the Team Tooke / Jace Pitre MMA fighter faced a tough and resilient John Gorrell from Elite MMA but was able to win by third round TKO to take his record to 4-0 as he prepares to move on the pro ranks.
Next up, Adrian Yanez and Nico Echeverry reprised their first bout from LAM 6 to give the crowd yet another exciting fight. The two battled back and forth for three rounds to the same result with Yanez taking another win over the ACS product while crediting tough training as of late at Metro Fight Club with noted trainer Saul Soliz.
See below for the rest of the results from Legacy Amateur Series 9 in Houston.
Legacy Amateur Series 9 – Quick Results
Ricky Turcios over Jacob Silva by split decision
Kody Williams over Paulo Alcozer by decision.
Mike Trinh over Daniel Delgado by split decision
Eric Garcia over John Gorrell by TKO, RD3
Eric Caminos over Jason Friedman by TKO, RD2
Adrian Yanez over Nico Echeverry by unanimous decision
Shen Castro over Ryan Faircloth by unanimous decision
Aaron Reeves and Chad Martin fight to a DRAW
Mike Hidrogo over David Acosta by submission (guillotine choke), RD3
Trevin Giles over Calvin “Pepper” Cooper by unanimous decision
Gabriel Valdez over Albert Moreno by submission (RNC), RD2
