HOUSTON, TX, April 4, 2013 – Mick Maynard’s Legacy Amateur Series 11 is fast-approaching with the Houston MMA amateur card set to take place this Saturday night at the Houston Arena Theater.
The show is set to feature an interesting title fight up top with Kolton Englund of Silverback Fight Club and Rilion Gracie Academy chasing the trifecta of local amateur titles in his 155 lbs. title fight opposite Metro Fight Club’s Luis Lara.
Fast-improving as of late, Kolton Englund will go into the fight having won titles at both EAC and Cage Combat in his last two fights over Brandon Hanna and David Montemayor respectively. The 19 year old has actually won 4 out of his last 5 fights (all by TKO) since starting his career 1-2 so he’s definitely on the rise as a pro prospect to watch out for. As for Lara, he’s 1-1 for his career so his body of work remains inconclusive at this point but anybody who trains under Saul Soliz can never be discounted. This fight will go a long ways towards determining his own long-term potential so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
The co-main event was set to feature another Metro Fight Club trainee in Adrian Yanez vying for amateur gold at 145 lbs. versus Gracie Barra North Houston’s Kody Williams but a staph infection to Williams cancelled that fight altogether. Definitely a shame considering the stylistic contrasts between these two but hey, these things are often out of anybody’s control. Instead, Yanez will now be taking on Quentin Kiper of Revolution Dojo. Stylistically, Kiper offers up a different set of challenges as opposed to the takedown specialist Williams but he should be game nonetheless. One thing to note though regarding this match is that Kiper does have a loss to Yanez’s Metro Fight Club teammate Eric Valdez. Whether that plays into this one is anybody’s guess but it’s definitely worth meriting as part of the storyline.
As for the rest of the card, it should also offer up plenty of other prospects looking to make their way up the Houston MMA ladder.
One matchup worth noting is the flyweight clash pitting Silverback’s Jacob “Lil Animal” Silva against GB Texas fighter Roberto Sanchez. With 10 fights and 4 title wins underneath him, Silva is without a doubt one of the most experienced amateur fighters in Houston MMA. He’s known for being a cardio machine has improved vastly since debuting in 2011 as well. With that being said, Roberto Sanchez has quietly been touted as a beast despite having only 2 fights (both wins) on his resume. Of those two, was a split decision win over Silva’s SFC teammate Ramiro Cortina so that should say something about his potential. It wouldn’t be a bold statemtn to say this one has ‘fight of the night’ potential written all over it.
Some other names to look forward to on this card include some young kids debuting named Sage Northcutt (Team Hoger) and Jordan Carmona (4OZ Fight Club). Both have trained for a number of years as juveniles in combat sports (Sage: Karate, Jordan: BJJ) while also mixing in some MMA training in preparation for this moment when they’re finally old enough to step into the cage so look for both to come in well-prepared.
A few other guys also return including a pair of Gold Team fighters in David Acosta and Micah Williams and many others from various teams around the area so this should be a card to watch.
Don’t miss it LIVE and of course check back to TXMMA.com for all our post-fight coverage of the event.
Legacy Amateur Series 11 – Updated Card and Quick Picks
155 Title – Kolton Englund (Silverback) vs. Luis Lara (Metro)
Prediction: Kolton Englund by submission, RD4.
145 Title – Adrian Yanez (Metro) vs. Kody Quentin Kiper (Revolution)
Prediction: Adrian Yanez by submission, RD1.
125 – Jacob Silva (Silverback) vs. Roberto Sanchez (Gracie Barra Texas)
Prediction: Jacob Silva by unanimous decision.
145 – Jake Heffernan (Gracie Barra NH) vs. Eric Charalambous (Metro)
Prediction: Jake Heffernman by unanimous decision.
165 – Charles Sheppard (RSKA) vs. Sage Northcutt (Hoger MMA)
Prediction: Sage Northcutt by TKO, RD2.
125 – David Acosta (Gold Team) vs. John Ballah (Champions MMA)
Prediction: John Ballah by decision.
170 – Jeff Spangler (ACS) vs. Jason Langellier (Metro)
Prediction: Jason Langellier by decision.
135- Angel Zamora (Bushi Ban) vs. Rene Saucedo (Metro)
Prediction: Rene Saucedo by decision.
115 – Jordan Carmona (4oz) vs. Sijin Kurian (Zion MMA)
Prediction: Jordan Carmona by submission, RD3.
190 – Micah Williams (Gold Team) vs. Jason Carter (646 MMA)
Prediction: Micah Williams by decision.
135 – Steven Vera (Metro) vs. Edward Longoria (Bushi Ban)
Prediction: Steven Vera by TKO, RD2.
145 – Donald Davis (Gold Team) vs. James Morales (Metro)
Prediction: Donald Davis by submission, RD2.
155 – EJ Turner (One MMA) vs. Perry Scott (Revolution)
Prediction: Perry Scott by decision.