This event will crown Legacy’s very first flyweight champion with the main event featuring UFC veteran Will Campuzano against up-and-coming prospect Jimmy Flick in what should be an exciting battle of two of the very best 125 lbs. prospects in the entire country.
The rest of the event will also feature an exciting undercard as well with fighters from both the DFW area and from out of town participating to improve their own standing towards an eventual title shot and national notoriety.
Before we get into the main card, let’s take a closer look at the local undercard and break down what fans can expect before the fights hit the national airwaves in AXS TV.
Legacy Fighting Championship 16 – Main Card (AXS TV)
125 lbs.: Will Campuzano (10-4) vs. Jimmy Flick (6-0) [TITLE FIGHT]
135 lbs.: Matthew Hobar (5-1) vs. Steven Peterson (8-2)
145 lbs.: Reynaldo Trujillo (12-8) vs. Chas Skelly (9-0)
125 lbs.: Joseph Sandoval (6-3) vs. Ryan Benoit (5-1)
170 lbs.: Charles Byrd (5-2) vs. Derrick Krantz (13-6)
135 lbs.: Klayton Mai (3-0) vs. Alex Russ (4-1)
135 lbs.: Quaint Kempf (5-3) vs. Darrion Caldwell (1-0)
Legacy Fighting Championship 16 – Preliminary Card
135 lbs.: Eli Tamez (4-0) vs. Nathan Torres (1-0)
170 lbs.: Russell Brewer (3-1) vs. Aaron Culpepper (2-3)
205 lbs.: Bobby Moore (1-1) vs. Evan Thompson (7-3)
125 lbs.: Lisa Lamb (debut) vs. Yasmine Reguera-Gonzales (debut)
135 lbs.: Sidney Cawdrey (1-3) vs. Joseph Salas (2-2)
185 lbs.: Alex Madrid (2-0) vs. Alfredo Leija (1-0)
Legacy Fighting Championship 16 – Undercard Preview and Predictions
135 lbs.: Eli Tamez (4-0) vs. Nathan Torres (1-0)
Undefeated Eli Tamez is a prospect I’ve been looking forward to seeing fight live for quite some time. A workout warrior with other sporting interests (read: soccer) besides MMA, he’s the type of fighter that seems to live in the gym. He’s only got one loss (as an amateur) in a combined 10 fights so far and is now looking to make run and stay undefeated in his fifth fight as a pro.
Tamez wil be taking on late replacement Nathan Torres in this fight after original opponent Nelson Salas pulled out due to what Eli described as “bruises.” Not sure what that’s all about but it will be this new opponent Torres that the Octagon MMA fighter we be looking to bruise now come fight night. I don’t know much about him other than he’s sporting a 1-0 record as a pro after going 1-2 as an amateur. He’s also 3 inches shorter than his opponent which leads me to believe that he’s the underdog in every sense of the word in this fight.
Prediction: Eli Tamez over Nathan Torres by submission, RD1.
170 lbs.: Russell Brewer (3-1) vs. Aaron Culpepper (2-3)
Both these guys are tough and well-rounded but from what we’ve seen, brewer might be the mre explosive of the two – as evident by his 5-second KO way back in pro debut back in April 2011. This one’s definitely not going to the judges and Russell will be stepping into the cage as the prohibitive favorite.
Prediction: Russell Brewer over Aaron Culpepper by TKO, RD1.
205 lbs.: Bobby Moore (debut) vs. Evan Thompson (debut)
Moving ahead from the women, we now arrive at a light heavyweight contest featuring 6’2” Bobby Moore taking on 6’3” Evan Thompson.
Both guys will be making their pro debuts with Evan holding the distinct experience advantage courtesy of his 7-3 amateur record to Bobby’s 1-1 clip in the amateurs. I don’t know much more than that about either of these guys but I also see that 28 year old Evan is 7 years Mr. Moore’s junior. In this game fresh legs matter and he might be apt to make fighting a career.
Prediction: Evan Thompson over Bobby Moore by TKO, RD2.
125 lbs.: Lisa Lamb (debut) vs. Yasmine Reguera-Gonzales (debut)
This fight has finally settled on Lisa Lamb taking on Yasmine Reguera-Gonzales after Lisa Lamb (Durwyn’s better and more good looking half) was initially supposed to fight Amber Stautzenberger and then Jordan Gaza.
Both fighters will be debuting as pros. With not a lot of footage on either of them, it’s hard to know what to expect but what we do know is that Lisa has an extensive amateur boxing background behind her while Yasmine is trained by a Muay Thai powerhouse in Pete “Secret Weapon” Spratt.
Given the history of excitement surrounding women’s fights here in Texas, this one may just be a sleeper for Fight of the Night.
Prediction: Lisa Lamb over Yasmine Reguera-Gonzales by TKO, RD3.
135 lbs.: Sidney Cawdrey (1-3) vs. Joseph Salas (2-2)
The second bout of the evening puts two fighters against each other who both need a win to move their records back towards the winning side instead of upside-down.
Despite their limited success in the pros so far, both Sidney Cawdrey and Joseph Salas have lengthy amateur experience behind them with a combined 12 fights before turning pro. Likewise, both guys will be looking to come back from tough losses in their last fights (Cawdrey getting armbarred in 33 seconds by Patrick Ybarra and Salas getting KO’d by Ray Rodriguez at Legacy 13)
Hard to say what will happen here but good news for one of these guys’ careers is that somebody has to win.
Prediction: Joseph Salas over Sidney Cawdrey by unanimous decision.
185 lbs.: Alex Madrid (2-0) vs. Alfredo Leija (1-0)
In the opening bout of the evening, Phalanx MMA’s Alex Madrid (2-1) steps into the cage with highly touted Alfredo Leija (1-0) out of Guy Mezger’s Combat Club. Both fighters are undefeated after making their pro debuts in 2012 and both did that after winning one bout on the amateur circuit. Admittedly I’ve had limited exposure to both these fighters as of yet but from what I’ve heard, Leija is likely to be the harder hitter of the two, while Alex will likely pride himself on being the more well-rounded fighter – as evident by his two submission victories as a pro and his position as a BJJ coach over at Phalanx, the academy he owns and manages together with Durwyn Lamb.
Going on a hunch, something tells me this one is going to relegate itself into a slugfest with heart and cardio becoming the primary factors when it comes down to who walks out the winner. Madrid is a US Marine so there’s no doubt he’s molded tough but I’ve heard Leija could be something else. We shall see first thing Friday night which of the two wants it more.
Prediction: Alfredo Leija over Alex Madrid by TKO, RD2.