By TXMMA Staff | Photos by Mike Calimbas (Texas MMA Photographer)
HOUSTON, TX, August 29, 2013 – Legacy Amateur Series 13 takes place this Saturday night at the Houston Arena Theater. With two title fights and fifteen total fights on the card at the time of this writing, this card will look to show a wide array of up-and-coming talent to Houston MMA fans. Of note is the bevy of young prospects on the card with no less than five fighters on the card not even at voting age. Look for some of these guys to make an impact in the pro ranks in the near future.
Here’s a preview on some of the fighters to watch at LAS 13 based on what we’ve seen in their past fights.
Texas Amateur MMA prospects to watch this Saturday at Legacy Amateur Series 13
Kolton Englund (4OZ Fight Club)
At 20 years of age Kolton Englund (6-3) is already one of the most experience amateur mixed martial artists on the Houston MMA scene. He started out with a win back in February 2011 and hasn’t stopped since, fighting at a clip of every few months with MMA as his primary focus aside from schoolwork. Since then he’s won three titles. One of them is the Legacy Amateur lightweight belt, which he will be defending at Legacy Amateur Series 13 versus Gracie Barra Texas rep Omar Hillail (2-1). Win or lose he plans to make the jump to the pro ranks as soon as possible and hopes to debut as an MMA pro for the Legacy Fighting Championship.
Leomana Martinez (Bushi Ban)
Speaking of young up-and-coming Houston MMA amateurs, Pasadena’s Bushi Ban team has one such fighter to look out for in 17 year old Leomana Martinez. He debuted just earlier this year with a March stoppage over Preston Anderson at SCC 3. He followed that up at LAS 12 with a win over Rene Saucedo to bring his record to 2-0. Despite his two fights he’s spent less than a minute inside the cage, beating Anderson by KO in a mere 12 seconds and following that up with a 30-second armbar over Saucedo. Those two wins landed him in a premier fight at Legacy Amateur Series 13, a featherweight title fight against fellow undefeated fighter Mike Trinh (3-0, Metro Fight Club).
Adrian Yanez (Metro Fight Club)
One more prospect to look out for at LAS 19 is Metro Fight Club’s Adrian Yanez (4-0). After over a year spent with coach Saul Soliz, Adrian has developed into one of the more well-balanced fighters on the amateur scene and might be poised to go pro here within the next year or so. His 4-0 record comes by virtue of some tough fights, including his back-to-back series with ACS fighter Nico Escheverry. He’s be facing off against Casey Jones (1-4) at Legacy Amateur Series 13.
Trent Parker (Furia Fight Center)
It’s hard to ignore the 4-0 record of 21 year old Trent Parker. The prospect from League City has performed in impressive fashion since debuting in May 2012 and will look to add to his impressive record versus Daniel Feuling (1-0) at Legacy Amateur Series 13. Should he win and it’s almost a certainty that he’ll be looked at as a title contender at the amateur level by one of the promotions in the Houston area.
Houston MMA – More Amateur Fighters Looking to Make an Impact
Jordan Carmona (4OZ Fight Club)
Another young fighter on his way up is 17 year old Jordan Carmona out of 4OZ Fight Club. He debuted very impressively against relatively way more experienced Sijin Kurian, beating the wrestler by first round submission (triangle choke) in under three minutes. He’ll be facing debuting fighter Jonathan Acosta at LAS 13.
AJ Hoffman (Gold Team / Jace Pitre MMA)
As the co-host of ESPN Radio Houston’s “The Blitz” on 97.5 AJ Hoffman will be walking into his fight with self-described “People’s Retard” Tim Lashley as one of the most well-supported fighters on the card. After a year layoff due to a serious knee injury AJ will look to take his undefeated record to 2-0. With a background in BJJ competition and a training background including extensive time spent with both Jorge Macaco Patino and Jace Pitre, look for this competitor to prove he is more than a radio personality in this one.
Dennis Sisson (SMAA)
Debuting at LAS 13 is Alvis Solis student Dennis Sisson. The blue belt has been on the BJJ competition scene for some time, starting out in the youth and teen divisions before taking on adult brackets starting earlier this year. The 5’11” welterweight will be facing 6’4″ Calvin Balch (0-1) to start off his MMA career.
Sage Northcutt (Team Hoger)
17 year old Sage Northcutt has a long history as a traditional martial artist and made the transition into amateur MMA at LAS 11, losing by first round TKO to Charles Sheppard. He got caught in that fight but rebounded with a first round submission over Dayron Vasquez at LAS 12 and now looks to make it two in a row versus street brawler Clarence Brown at LAS 13. This makes for an interesting clash of styles and should be an entertaining fight, to say the least.
Legacy Amateur Series 13 – Updated Fight Card for August 31, 2013
170 – Clarence Brown (0-0) vs. Sage Northcutt (1-1)
145 – Nicholas Gay (0-0) vs. James Morales (1-0)
185 – Ken Carter (0-0) vs. Jason Carter (0-1)
130 – Jake Snyder (0-0) vs. Alex Altman (0-0)
115 – Jonathan Acosta (0-0) – Jordan Carmona (1-0)
170 – Dennis Sisson (0-0) vs. Calvin Balch (0-1)
155 – Leroy Vasquez (2-1) vs. John Gorrell (2-2)
170 – Trent Parker (4-0) vs. Daniel Fueling (1-0)
125 – Mike De Leon (2-0) vs. Ramiro Ruiz (1-0)
135 – Angel Zamora (0-6) vs. Chase Eastham (0-1)
160 – Chris Jackson (1-0) vs. Perry Scott (1-0)
185 – Tim Lashley (1-0) vs. AJ Hoffman (1-0)
135 – Casey Jones (1-4) vs. Adrian Yanez (4-0)
135 – Leomana Martinez (2-0) vs. Mike Trinh (3-0) *TITLE
155 – Omar Hillail (3-1) vs. Kolton Englund (6-3) * TITLE