Cover Photo: Rocky Long | Photos by Mike Calimbas (Texas MMA Photographer)
Legacy Fighting Championship 21 to feature exciting main card; Undercard prospects worthy of note as well
Aside from the main card, local fans or those making the drive to Houston should also be in for an added treat with an exciting preliminary undercard ready for those who secure tickets to be there LIVE at the Arena Theater in Southwest Houston.
Legacy FC 21 will feature five undercard fights including the Legacy debut of Texas Fight veteran Rocky Long along with appearances by some of Houston MMA’s brightest up-and-coming pro prospects – including Ricky Turcios, Colin Wright, Chris Lopez, Eric Garcia and more.
Take a look at the entire card below then enjoy our Legacy FC 21 undercard preview and predictions.
LEGACY FC 21 – MAIN CARD (AXS TV)
135 lbs.: Matt Hobar (7-1) vs. Angel Huerta (7-1) *bantamweight title
185 lbs.: Bubba Bush (5-2) vs. Larry Crowe (6-2) *middleweight title
145 lbs.: Leonard Garcia (15-11-1) vs. Rey Trujillo (15-9)
145 lbs.: Holly Holm (3-0) vs. Allana Jones (2-2)
135 lbs.: Darrion Caldwell (2-0) vs. Gerzan Chaw (3-2)
170 lbs.: Jonathan Harris (7-3) vs. Matt Rogers (8-4)
LEGACY FC 21 – PRELIMINARY CARD (non-televised)
145 lbs.: Victor Hernandez (5-16) vs. Rocky Long (20-29-1)
135 lbs.: Ricky Turcios (debut) vs. Colin Wright (0-1)
145 lbs.: Scott Juarez (1-1) vs. Eric Valdez (1-0)
170 lbs.: Kenny Burke (0-3) vs. Chris Lopez (1-0)
155 lbs.: Eric Garcia (debut) vs. Jacob Capelli (1-0)
Legacy Fighting Championship 21 – Undercard Preview and Predictions
145 lbs.: Victor Hernandez (5-16) vs. Rocky Long (20-29-1)
The Legacy FC 21 undercard will be highlighted by a battle of resilient Texas MMA journeymen in Conroe’s Rocky Long taking on Midland resident Victor Hernandez.
Rocky will always be respected for his status as a forebearer to many of today’s stars when it comes to MMA. At 35 yeard old, Rocky already has an unbelievable 50 fights on his record. The guy has fought since before 2001 and has fought some of the best the state has had to offer across a multitude of eras, guys like Phil Cardella, Nick Gonzalez, Johnny Bedford, Vinicius Magalhaes, and so many others. With his career seemingly winding down, he’ll be looking to end things of on a high note.
Speaking of veterans, Rocky’s opponent Victor Hernandez is another one. LIke Rocky, he’s also been fighting since the early days around 2001. With a career record of 5-16 nobody will lay claim that Victor is a top contender but his resiliency and love for the game has brought him back time and time again.
It should be interesting enough to watch these two elder statesmen go at it before we move to the main card talent at Legacy FC 21. With that in mind, Rocky Long should take this one handedly to begin his farewell tour in Texas’ top event.
Prediction: Rocky Long over Victor Hernandez by TKO, RD2.
135 lbs.: Ricky Turcios (debut) vs. Colin Wright (0-1)
As far as exciting bouts to look forward to on this card go, this would certainly be one to watch. Both these fighters are dynamic young guys and, in our eyes, fairly evenly matched.
Colin Wright will be looking to rebound from a submission loss to Gerzan Chaw in his pro debut this past November at Legacy FC 15 after a stellar 6-0 amateur MMA career. If you count Muay Thai bouts, this would technically be coming back from 2 losses in a row for Colin so mental confidence could be a factor to consider going in. Not that we think it will be but we’d be remiss not to mention that – even though this is a fighter that’s been used to adversity his entire life. Up until recently he’s just never faced it much in his MMA career.
Speaking of confidence, 20 year old Ricky Turcios sure seems confidence going into his pro debut following a Legacy Amateur title win over Jacob Silva to end his own amateur stint with a 4-1 record. He’s spent much of his time since then getting bigger and filling into his adult frame so look for a much different fighter moving forward compared to the kid he was in the past.
Looking at this fight in-depth, it’s hard to call who we think will win. Colin seemingly has the edge in experience and his loss to Gerzan is nothing to hang his head low about since Gerzan is a great fighter. With that being said, Ricky’s fought Jacob Silva twice and beat a now-tough pro in Ryan Hollis. He’s never fought anybody with Colin’s size coming from the flyweight division. Anything could happen in this fight and both guys are well-rounded enough to make it a good one. It may just come down to who’s got the hot hand come Friday night.
Prediction: Pick’em
145 lbs.: Scott Juarez (1-1) vs. Eric Valdez (1-0)
The bout between Silverback Fight Club’s Scotty Juarez and Eric Valdez pits two of the up-and-coming Hispanic pro fighters out of Houston against one another with goal of seeing which of the two has the potential to climb even higher in the divisional pecking order.
The son of Silverback head coach Tony Orozco Jr., Scotty Juarez has been credited in the past as Silverback Tony’s reason for opening up his MMA gym in the first place. According to those around him he’s always had loads of potential but hasn’t been active enough to show it. He won his pro debut in March 2010 but didn’t fight again for two years, when he took on former 155 lbs. champ Ray Blodget at Legacy FC 12. Surprising to many, he gave Blodget one heck of a fight in what would ultimately come down to a split decision loss but a ‘Fight of the Night’ performance. That was a year ago this month and now he’s looking to do it again versus an opponent more level with his pro experience.
As for Eric Valdez, he’ll be walking into this fight an undefeated pro after defeating Paradigm’s Edgar Juarez in his pro debut at Legacy FC 18. Valdez used a sound game plan in that fight, smothering his opponent against the cage and taking him down and grinding him out on the floor when necessary. A nitty-gritty type of fighter, he won’t be afraid to mix it up against his relatively more notable opponent.
To us this is somewhat of a hard fight to figure out. It would seem like Scotty has the slight edge on the feet and should be more advanced with his submissions should the fight hit the ground but it’s hard to say. This seems like the type of fight that may be dictated by who can control the clinch and force the fight to where they want it to go. Scotty is cutting a lot of weight to get to 145 lbs. but he’s done it gradually. If he enters this fight in shape and able to withstand a rough three round fight, I think he’s got the edge to take this one.
Prediction: Scotty Juarez over Eric Valdez by decision.
170 lbs.: Kenny Burke (0-3) vs. Chris Lopez (1-0)
San Antonio native and Team Tooke native Chris Lopez made his pro debut in his hometown at Legacy FC 17 this past February, scoring a win over Melvin Jordan. Prior to that Lopez fought six times as an amateur, losing only once. As far as personalities go, Chris is the type of fighter we would describe as a blue collar workaholic. He take training seriously and has gone the full-time route of making training and coaching his daily routine, indicating he’s serious about succeeding in this sport versus moonlighting just for fun. Stylistically he is a hard hitter both on the feet and on the ground, as evident by his one-punch dropping of Mike Eaglin back at Cage Combat 12.
Taking on Chris Lopez will be Kenny Burke of Gracie Barra Katy. A longtime veteran to the scene, Burke actually started out as an amateur way back in 2008 and rang off a 3-0 record as an amateur, most notably picking up a win over now 5-2 pro Justin Reiswerg. Since turning pro he hasn’t the same luck. He went 0-3 in 2009 and 2010 but has went on hiatus from the pro scene since then. Now it’s a mystery regarding which Burke we’ll get at Legacy FC 21. Will he fold once again or has he taken the last 3 years to re-tool and come back to all that potential he had in the first place?
Records aside, this could end up becoming a very interesting fight given the tenacity of these two men but as far as predictions go, we’ll have to go with Lopez. Not only has he proven to be well-rounded with heart but he’s also been there day in and day out for the past few years as well.
Prediction: Chris Lopez over Kenny Burke by submission, RD2.
155 lbs.: Eric Garcia (debut) vs. Jacob Capelli (1-0)
Right now marks an exciting chapter in the actual competition career of Garcia Promotions (Cage Combat) figurehead Eric Garcia. The native Houstonian has been involved in the local MMA world for quite some time, running his successful amateur promotion in the Humble area. He has even greater plans in mind with the first GP pro card forecasted for some time in the non-so-distant future but until then, he’s looking to try his hand in the pro leagues as a fighter as well.
Coming out of the amateur circuit undefeated at 4-0, Eric Garcia took on some excellent competition as an amateur on the way to his pro debut. His most notable wins include Saul Soliz-trained Luis Lara and amateur belt collector Kolton Englund.
Taking on Garcia in his pro debut is undefeated 1-0 pro Jacob Capelli. Admittedly we don’t know too much about the Dallas-based fighter but his body of work does include a big win in his pro debut against Beaumont’s Jordy Morgan in his pro debut at IXFA 9 this past May. That alone indicates that he’s a well-balanced fighter and should be a great test for Garcia.
As far as predictions go, we’ll have to go with Eric Garcia in this one. Not only are we more familiar with the Houstonian from a coverage perspective but he’s also got the advantage of training with teammates like UFC vet Andrew Craig, Travis Tooke, Jace Pitre, and many others on their roster on a regular basis. There is power in numbers and you are who you train with so his training and experience should give him the edge here.
Prediction: Eric Garcia over Jacob Capelli by unanimous decision.