Legacy Fighting Championship 18 Results – Fight by Fight Recap and Post-fight Analysis

HOUSTON, TX, March 2, 2013 – It was a good night for defending champions in the Legacy Fighting Championship last night in Houston. Legacy FC 18 featured title defenses by two of the organization’s champions, Jorge “Macaco” Patino (lightweight) and Derrick “Black Beast” Lewis (heavyweight). Both faced different sets of challenges with Patino taking on surging young fighter Derrick Krantz and Lewis taking on brash Texas newcomer Ricky Shivers. In the end it wasn’t easy for either champ but both got the job done in convincing fashion to keep the belt aRD their waists.

We’ll go into full detail on each of the fights in just a minute. For now here are the quick results from LFC 18 held March 1^st at Houston’s Arena Theatre.

Legacy Fighting Championship 18 – Quick Results

Main Card

Derrick Lewis over Ricky Shivers by TKO (GNP) – RD3 – 4:22
Jorge Patino over Derrick Krantz by submission (guillotine choke) – RD2, 3:07
Rafael de Freitas and Antonio Banuelos fight to a split draw (27-29, 29-28, 28-28)
Todd Moore over Charlie Ontiveros by TKO (GNP) – RD1, 2:01
Lauren Taylor over Jennifer Scott by TKO (GNP) – RD1, 4:10
Alex Morono over Brandon Farran by submission (armbar) – RD1, 1:16

Preliminary Card

Larry Crowe over Matt Rogers by TKO (strikes) – RD1, 1:16
Dale Mitchell over Chad Cook by TKO (rib injury) – RD2, 3:00
Gerzan Chaw over Davis Armas by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Chris Reed over Jermaine Anugwom by KO (straight left hand) – RD1
Kaileb Cummins and Justin Murry fight to a draw (28-28, 28-28, 28-28)
Eric Valdez over Edgar Juarez by decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

TXMMA Fight Night Awards

Fight of the Night – Derrick Lewis vs. Ricky Shivers

Knockout of the Night – Chris Reed

Submission of the Night – Jorge Macaco Patino

 Legacy Fighting Championship 18 – Fight-by-Fight Recaps

265 lbs.: Derrick Lewis (8-2) vs. Ricky Shivers (10-5-1) <TITLE>

It was really interesting to see what would go down in this main event considering all the posturing beforehand. The challenger, Ricky Shivers, seemed rather brash and even obnoxious in his pre-fight interviews in banter – calling himself “the best competitive grappler in Texas” in one interview and egging on the Silverback camp at weigh-ins saying stuff like “Dan Henderson couldn’t touch this chin, son.” The pre-fight stuff concluded at the rules meeting when he walked in saying something along the likes of “How many black belts are in here? …THE black belt is here” or something to that effect. Did he somehow forget that world-class grapplers like Roberto “Tussa” Alencar, Rafael “Barata” De Freitas, Ulpiano Malachias (fellow GB black belts) and others like Jorge “Macaco” Patino were in the room? Or was this all a heel act to get in his opponent’s head? Either way Houston hasn’t seen such a loud talker in some time so it was interesting to see how the fight would go down.

To his credit, Shivers did much better in the fight against the current champion than some expected – who predicted he would go down in a heap in the first round. That was not the case and this was in actuality a fairly competitive fight all the way to the end in the third. Though as powerful as ever, Lewis never really could land the one killer knockout shot on his feet in this one. Instead the two trades barbs grappling for the most part. We’d say they were about equal in the takedown department with Lewis proving effective with trips and simply throwing his opponent down while Shivers went forward with some double-legs and trips of his own. Both guys had some near submissions in this fight with Lewis almost tapping Ricky with a kimura – from bottom mount no less – while Shivers had an armbar extended at the very end of the second. It all came down to cardio, power, and sheer will in the third as the champion eventually wore on his opponent and started raining down blows from the top position. With Ricky covering up referee Jake Montalvo called a halt to the action and Derrick Lewis has now officially defended his heavyweight belt for the very first time.

155 lbs.: Jorge Macaco Patino (24-13) vs. Derrick Krantz (14-6) <TITLE>

The co-main event for the Legacy lightweight title proved to be quite an exciting affair as Longview, TX native Derrick Krantz proved initially that he was more than up to the task of getting in there with vale tudo legend Macaco. D-Rock definitely started out faster than his champion opponent, landing some well-timed strikes while defending some judo takedowns and even securing one of his own – getting Macaco’s back momentarily at one point and probably winning the round though it was close.

Macaco would fare better in the second stanza, moving ahead aggressively to try and get the fight to the floor. The two would trade some shots and end up in scramble after an attempted back-take by Krantz. That gave Macaco just the opening he needed to slap on a modified one-handed guillotine to force the tap midway through the second round. Very exciting fight in this one.

125 lbs.: Rafael De Freitas (5-0) vs. Antonio Banuelos (20-9)

The third fight of the evening proved to be an even affair based on the resulting draw which left this fight without a winner. De Freitas, otherwise known in BJJ circles as “Barata” was expected to be more of a grappling specialist heading into this fight but he was largely content to trade on his feet with his WEC/UFC pedigreed opponent. Rafael would do well in measuring distance for the duration of this fight as Banuelos was never quite able to come forward and get inside and his corner pleaded for him to do. The fight did go to the ground with about a minute left on the second after a big slam by Banuelos (and accidental soccer kick by Barata that led to a break) but he wasn’t able to do anything from inside the Gracie Barra black belt’s guard after the restart.

The second and third rounds were really much of the same in terms of Antonio trying to find his way inside without answer. De Freitas on the other hand looked to grow more and more comfortable on his feet even connecting with a big shot that dropped Banuelos at one point. He’d probably have won the fight if striking were the only area being considered but ironically Antonio was likely saved from a loss due to his grappling – mainly a few timely takedowns that surely had an effect on the judges’ scorecards.

170 lbs.: Charlie Ontiveros (3-0) vs. Todd Moore (14-5)

In a very intriguing fight it was the “Texas-Sized Comeback 2013” that proved to be successful for veteran Todd Moore as he picked up his first win in over a year since his Strikeforce stint and subsequent knee injury over upstart fighter Charlie Ontiveros.

Many were perplexed before the fight by Charlie’s decision to take on such an experienced and dangerous opponent but to his credit, Charlie didn’t look all that outmatched in the cage last night. He simply lost to a crafty relentless opponent. A striker by nature who moved into MMA, Charlie looked good as usual on his feet and even displayed some exceptional takedown defense and poise on the ground when he was taken down. He also did some showboating in there (at the very least with his facial expressions, etc.) but Todd proved unfazed by that mental aspect of the game. He just went on with his gameplan of working the takedown and scoring from dominant position on the ground.

That plan came to fruition in the second as he was finally able to secure mount after getting the Hard head Hitter on the ground. From there he would rain down punches and elbows cutting Ontiveros open and forcing the ref to call a halt to the action about two minutes into the round for the victory.

125 lbs.: Jennifer Scott (2-2) vs. Lauren Taylor (4-0)

In the featured women’s bout of the evening (the first in Legacy history), Lauren Taylor was able to move to 5-0 at the professional level with a vicious ground and pound KO of Houston-based opponent Jennifer Scott in the first round.

A boxer, Jennifer looked to be aggressive on the feet early, moving in with jabs and combos but Taylor remained composed while awaiting her opportunity to take her opponent down. She found the double-leg about halfway through the round and quickly started raining down hell-bows from half guard – splitting Jennifer’s forehead with open and staining the mat with blood. She wouldn’t stop until Scott gave up her back and had no answer left – forcing the ref to call the action and put a stop to the bloodletting.

170 lbs.: Brandon Farran (7-6) vs. Alex Morono (4-1)

In the first televised fight of the evening Alex Morono of Gracie Barra North Houston quickly dispatched of Abilene-based Brandon Farran in the first round of what proved to be a quick and relatively painless affair.

Alex would pick up the takedown early and look to score some strikes to a grounded Brandon who countered with a pretty nice armbar attempt defended nicely by the GB brown belt. Alex would then move to sub attempts of his own – first a guillotine and then the armbar forcing the dreadlocked-one to submit little over a minute into their fight.

185 lbs.: Larry Crowe (5-2) vs. Matt Rogers (8-3)

Too strong, too fast, and too intent on picking the victory is how we’d describe Larry Crowe in this one as he looked to overwhelm 37-year old opponent Matt Rogers. Larry didn’t waste any time coming forward at the start and never allowed his opponent any opportunity to control him or clinch from the inside – punishing him whenever he tried. The end came quickly little over a minute into the affair as Rogers, having not fought since 2004, proved to be overmatched in this one.

Interesting to note is that (according to LFC matchmaker Collin Cantrell) Crowe will now face his originally-planned opponent Bubba Bush at a future event with the Legacy middleweight vacated by Andrew Craig on the line for whoever wins that one.

135 lbs.: Gerzan Chaw (2-2) vs. David Armas (3-5)

Prior to this fight we had this one labeled as a potential fight of the night thinking these two would stand and wage war but Gerzan Chaw instead fought a smart fight and stifled the Silverback fighter with a strong dose of takedowns and positional control on the ground. Gerzan threated with a triangle choke at one point but to his credit David once again displayed resiliency in submission defense. With this win, Chaw now moves to a winning record at 3-2 and has loads of potential to do even more now that his game seems to have matured quite nicely.

205 lbs.: Chris Reed (4-2) vs. Jermaine Anugwom (0-1)

“The Celtic Tiger” Chris Reed made the most of his bon voyage fight by winning in spectacular fashion – knocking out the College Station kickboxer Jermaine Anugwom. Reed was supposed to be all-wrestling while Coxinha was supposed to be the spectacular striker but it was Reed who killed it in this one – bullying Jermaine on the ground and punishing him with strikes against the fence. A few uppercuts and a straight left right on the kisser put this one to bed and sends Reed into retirement with his bald head held high.

265 lbs.: Chad Cook (9-9) vs.  Dale Mitchell (5-5)

Similarly to his good friend Chris Reed, Chad Cook has a long history in MMA – as in really long. The guy has been fighting since before TXMMA.com first got started in 2000-2001, finding fights wherever he could. He’s an active police officer nowadays but still maintains his love for the sport as evident by taking this fight at heavyweight against big Dale Mitchell.

A true heavyweight, Dale used his mass to muscle Chad to the ground throughout this fight – something Chad doesn’t really mind considering the ground is his strength. Chad almost had a heel hook in the second round but in the end, it was a slam by Dale early on in the fight that resulted in the end as Cook couldn’t come out for the first due to a broken rib. Dale now moves to a winning record at 6-5 overall.

170 lbs.: Kaileb Cummins (2-0) vs. Justin Murray (3-3)

This was a pretty back-and-forth contest contested mostly on the feet with well-rounded Justin Murray taking on much-improved Kaileb Cummins. Both guys took turns being the aggressor throughout three rounds of action – all of which could have been anybody’s ballgame. Two low blows by Murray may have (actually did) cost him the fight however considering he had a point taken away in a fight that ended up being a split draw.

145 lbs.: Eric Valdez (debut) vs. Edgar Juarez (debut)

These two guys made their respective pro debuts in the first fight of the evening. Eric Valdez used a conservative gameplan of trapping Juarez on the fence and forcing him to the floor on many occasions throughout this fight. More of a striker than grappler at this point in his development, Edgar was never able to get off with much of anything in this fight as Metro Fight Club’s Eric Valdez grinded his way to a unanimous decision.

Legacy Fighting Championship 18 – Event Photo Gallery

 

 
Complete gallery (1,500+ shots) available for print order at www.mikecalimbas.com.