HOUSTON, TX, September 14, 2012 – Legacy Fighting Championship 14 is tonight and it’s shaped up to be another exciting night of fights in Houston.

The show was supposed to be anchored by a welterweight title fight featuring two of the most respected fighters in the area in champion Jorge Macaco Patino defending against Houston PD gang task force officer Jeff Rexroad.

Unfortunately, the champion suffered a knee injury (torn ACL) in training that’s going to keep him on the shelf for an extended period of time so he is out of this bout but in his place steps Bahia, Brazil native and another exciting prospect in Lucas Pimenta (8-0).

Legacy 14 also promises to also deliver by featuring seasoned veterans and notable prospects looking to break out nationally to round out the card.

Legacy president Mick Maynard recently announced the addition of WEC / UFC / Dream veteran Antonio Banuelos to take on Josh Sampo, a Missouri-based fighter who’s won four out of his last five heading into his Legacy Fighting Championship debut.

Likewise, MTV star Matt “Danger” Schnell makes his pro debut after starring in the CAGED series by taking on Legacy Amateur Series veteran Ryan “Riptide” Hollis.

Also debuting as a pro is 2x All-American wrestler Darrion Caldwell. He’ll be making his debut against local fighter David Armas.

Aside from those, there are plenty more interesting matchups at Legacy 14 card including those set for the AXS TV broadcasted main card and the local undercard.

Here’s the final lineup for tonight’s fights. Undercard begins at 7PM while the main card begins promptly at 9PM.

Main Card (AXS TV)

170 – Jeff Rexroad vs. Lucas Pimenta Rexroad (TITLE)
125 – Josh Sampo vs. Antonio Banuelos
125 – Matt Schnell vs. Ryan Hollis
140 – Cody Williams vs. Steven Peterson (catchweight)
170 – Brandan Farran vs. Derrick Krantz
145 – Darrion Caldwell vs. David Armas
170 – Lester Batres vs. Jonathan Harris

Local Undercard (untelevised)

170 – Charlie Ontiveros vs. Anthony Tatum
180 – Patrick Hutton vs. Terrance Ferguson
205 – Chris Reed vs. Yonny Osuna
170 – Kaileb Cummins vs. Patrick Greene

TXMMA Guide to Legacy FC 14 – Main Card Analysis and Predictions

Here’s where we talk about the fights and try to offer our TXMMA readers our objective estimation on what to expect from these fights.

Feel free to disagree and share your own thoughts as well. We’re already expecting the “I told you” comments following the fights. J

170 –Jeff Rexroad vs. Lucas Pimenta (TITLE)

Fight Analysis – This fitting main event features two blue chip prospects looking to earn the Legacy interim welterweight title and a shot at a higher profile nationally. A win for either one over the other national TV would certainly accomplish that and it looks like an exciting one in the making.

Those in the know here in Houston have seen Jeff Rexroad, a Houston Police Officer, evolve through his three-fight amateur career and six fights as a pro into one of the top prospects in the area not currently in the UFC. A BJJ brown belt and seasoned striker whose training with some top guys in the major disciplines locally throughout his tenure as a fighter, Jeff is also a rangy and resilient fighter who has developed advanced skills in MMA wrestling as well while training at Paradigm.

His opponent Lucas Pimenta is equally talented though less of a homegrown product. He came up in BJJ while living in his hometown of Belem, Brazil before moving on to train at Chute Boxe in Curritiba and ultimately ending up with Gold Team in Newark, NJ where he is currently based. He most recently saw action here in Texas taking on John Malbrough and others this past summer, winning the UWF Tournament of Warriors to bring his record stateside to 8-0.

This fight is going to come down to who came impose their will on the other. With his length, Rexroad will most likely try to keep this fight on the outside to start while Lucas may look for the Muay Thai clinch to score knees from that position. It should go that way for awhile as these two may be stalemated on the ground if it goes there but eventually cardio will be key. Lucas is an excellent fighter and prospect but I need to see more gas than he showed against Malbrough to truly be sure.

Our Prediction – Jeff Rexroad by split decision.

125 – Josh Sampo vs. Antonio Banuelos

Fight Analysis – WEC veteran Antonio Banuelos makes his Legacy debut and fights as a flyweight for the very first time tonight so it should be interesting to see what he does in this new weight class. The Californian makes hie Legacy debut coming off a win over Masakazu Imanari in his last fight to end 2011. Prior to that, he alternated wins and losses while fighting top opponents including Bibiano Fernandes, Miguel Torres, and Scott Jorgensen.

As for his opponent, Missouri’s Josh Sampo isn’t nearly as well-known but is could prove to be a good first test considering his lengthy wrestling background and experience also taking on tough opponents, such as Texan Will Campuzano.

Banuelos should have the advantage in this fight as the bigger fighter and definitely has more experience than Sampo so that too should give him the edge. All he has to do (aside from impose his own will) and stop the inevitable takedown attempts.

Our Prediction – Antonio Banuelos by unanimous decision.

140 – Cody Williams vs. Steven Peterson (catchweight)

Fight Analysis – This has to be one of the hardest fights to objectively break down on this entire card. Plenty of people would call this a striker vs. grappler type of match with Steven Peterson looking to win by submission and Cody Williams looking to take his opponent out on the feet. That may very well be the case but I believe both men are underrated in the areas they are supposed to be weak in – with Cody’s ground game ever-improving and Steven’s unorthodox striking proving effective enough for him to get the fight where it needs to go.

Anything could happen in this fight and we don’t pretend to know any different.

With that being said, we’ll make this (and all) our picks based on the empirical data at hand …

Both fighters have lengthy pro and amateur records where they’ve faced tough competition. Specifically as pros, Peterson has only been finished twice – both decisions – while Cody also has two losses – one by submission and the other by a TKO where got caught against Steven Garcia.

Both fighters will look to start off strong in this one and establish where this fight takes place.

Peterson enjoys a considerable reach advantage while Williams has a different advantage with his shorter yet explosive frame. Coupled with his speed, that could prove to negate the length of Peterson but that remains to be seen. Another key area of the fight is who will win the closer distance when the fight goes into a clinch. There’s a whole lot more to consider in this fight but for the sake of brevity, we’ll just go into it tonight and see who imposes their will.

For now, the pick is Peterson by virtue of the fact that he’s never been finished yet finishes fights himself. Cody’s got the power to change that stat really quickly though and it looks like he’s equally focused on winning this fight. Either way it rolls, I just don’t see this one going to a decision.

Our Prediction – Steven Peterson by submission, RD2.

170 – Brandan Farran vs. Derrick Krantz

Fight Analysis – This could be one of the more exciting fights of the night with Abilene’s Brandon Farran taking on Longview native Derrick Krantz.

Both these guys are veterans with almost 30 fights between them and penchant for doing whatever they have to do to get the victory. Farran is coming off three wins in a row and hasn’t lost since 2009 while D-Rock is coming off a tough loss to Russian Andrey Koreshkov in Bellator and has lost 3 out of his last 4.

This should be a close fight but we’re going with the Addison native by virtue of his current momentum.

Our Prediction – Brandon Farran by unanimous decision.

170 – Lester Batres vs. Jonathan Harris

Fight Analysis – This has got to be one of the more intriguing fights of the card with these two big welterweights from the Houston area competing to see who can break out and move into contention in the division.

Jonathan Harris has been there before, winning his first four as a pro before losing in his first title opportunty against Mike Bronzoulis back in November 2010. He won two to rebound after that fight but lost his last fight against Chidi Njokuani this past February so he’ll want to do all he can to bounce back.

Meanwhile, Lester Batres is the latest darling of local die-hard fans with his two fight win-streak seemingly catapulting him over the mental barriers he’s freely admitted has kept him from success in the past. A training room addict, Lester spends time at no less than 2-3 top Houston facilities so he should be in prime shape to see what he has in this, his latest barometer for success as a pro.

This fight has the potential to go pretty much anywhere. Harris will likely look to land vicious power strikes while Lester should be employing a more tactical game that includes plenty of knees in the clinch and positional control on top if it gets to the ground. Harris has ground-and-pound of his own and has shown great sub defense also while Batres is no slouch on his feet and has power of his own also. Very close fight, in our opinion. This one could come down to the wire.

Our Prediction – Jonathan Harris by split decision.

125 – Matt Schnell vs. Ryan Hollis

Fight Analysis – When I first saw this matchup, I had Matt Schnell pegged as the prohibitive favorite – especially considering his lengthy 10-2 amateur record and his background training with Tim Credeur, Dustin Poirier, and crew at Gladiators Academy in Louisiana – likely the best MMA training facility in that entire state. Schnell’s also got some solid wins on his record – including one over Houston amateur champ Joe Trevino so he should be for real.

With all that being said, it seems like Ryan “Riptide” Hollis has that look in his eyes when it comes to this fight and should be a load to handle as he seeks to score the upset special. He too has been improving with dominant performances as of late and his reach coupled with his proficiency in the ground game (specifically the bottom) should prove to be the perfect foil for Schnell’s wrestling base.

Our prediction below shows who the favorite in the fight is but don’t be surprised if Hollis pulls this one by virtue of simply refusing to lose.

Our Prediction – Matt Schnell by unanimous decision.

145 – Darrion Caldwell vs. David Armas

Fight Analysis – These two already got heated at the weigh-ins, scuffling until they were broken up by security (e.g. Jeff Rexroad and Drew Raticheck). Needles to say, there will be no love between the two come fight time.

Objectively, this is Darrion Caldwell’s fight to lose. He’s a multiple-time NCAA wrestling champion who’s beaten the likes of Brent Metcalf to get to where he is in that sport. He transitioned into MMA by consulting the advice of other wrestlers and subsequently working with them (Ryan Bader, Jamie Varner, etc.) at Arizona Combat Sports. This fight tonight will be his first pro bout in MMA.

As for David Armas, he’s as tough as they come and is always willing to exchange punches no matter who his opponent. His weakness in the past has been getting controlled in the ground aspect though he’s shown superb submission defense. He’s also knocked out two wrestlers in a row and will be looking to make it thrree in what would be the biggest upset to come out of this card if it happens. We wouldn’t put it past him but the logical choice in this bout is Caldwell.

Our Prediction – Darrion Caldwell by unanimous decision.

TXMMA Guide to Legacy FC 14 – Preliminary Card Analysis and Predictions

170 – Charlie Ontiveros vs. Anthony Tatum

Fight Analysis – This fight is a late addition after a planned East Texas showdown between Charlie Ontiveros and Ryan Spann was scrapped due to an injury suffered by the latter fighter.

Admittedly we don’t know much about the late replacement Tatum other than his 1-0 record – a TKO win over Aldo Davila in Fabian Butler’s 24/7 promotion. As for Charlie, well he’s coming off an impressive TKO win over Mark Garcia highlighted by this soaring front kick to the face in his pro debut. All while winning all 3 of his Legacy amateur fights in equally impressive fashion.

Unless Anthony Tatum proves himself to a prospect we didn’t know about, expert Charlie to do it again in this one.

Our Prediction – Charlie Ontiveros by TKO, RD2.

205 – Chris Reed vs. Yonny Osuna

Fight Analysis – This matchup was one of the more recent additions to the card with Yonny Osuna stepping for injured kickboxer Jermaine Anugwom. Osuna will now be taking on Chris Reed, a former Houston police offer and current City Manager for Nassau Bay in Southeast Houston. Reed also happens to be a co-owner of the IXFA (MMA) promotion and is also a veteran of the Houston MMA scene dating back to 2007 so he’ll be sure to draw some cheers from the crowd.

As far as the fight itself, both Reed and Osuna are both big, strong guys who hit hard but Reed will have the marked advantage when it comes to grappling in this fight. A wrestler and submission fighter since years upon years, Chris should be looking to take this fight down to the mat as soon as possible in this fight. Once it gets there, the victory should be a foregone conclusion.

Our Prediction – Chris Reed by TKO, RD2.

180 – Patrick Hutton vs. Terrance Ferguson

Fight Analysis – Classic boxer vs. grappler matchup. That’s what I think of with this fight and it’s pretty much true given the following: In his entire career (both ammy and pro), Terrance Ferguson has only won by submission or decision while only losing by KO/TKO.  Meanwhile, “Bam Bam” Hutton has only won by TKO’s and decisions himself while falling prey to submissions on numerous occasions.

The key to this fight will come down to distance. As a veteran boxer/fighter, look for Patrick to use his footwork and a crisp jab to try to keep Ferguson at bay while Terrance, the Gracie Barra rep, will look to take this fight to the ground and look for the submission or grind out his opponent. With that being said, Terrance should have the inside track in this fight, especially since he trains with Pat Bierschwale – a previous opponent for Hutton.

Our Prediction – Terrance Ferguson by submission, RD2.

170 – Kaileb Cummins vs. Patrick Greene

Fight Analysis – This is a battle of two big young welterweights eager to earn their first win. Patrick Greene, the elder of the two at 34, has already fought twice as a pro while Cummins, a fresh grad from Sam Houston University makes his pro debut after a 3-3 amateur career.

It’s tough to say who wins this one as there is no definitive favorite in our estimation but it may come down to the clichéd saying of whoever can finish stronger wins the fight.

Our Prediction – Kaileb Cummins by split decision.