By TXMMA Staff | Photos by Mike Calimbas (Texas MMA Photos)
Featherweight title match between Garcia and Aguilar promises fireworks if reputations hold true at Legacy FC 26
SAN ANTONIO, TX, December 3, 2013 – This Friday night at Legacy Fighting Championship 26 in San Antonio, East Texas native Kevin “Angel of Death” Aguilar will face his most formidable challenge yet as a pro when he faces MMA “Bad Boy” Leonard Garcia in the evening’s main event Legacy FC’s featherweight title.
With 18 bouts behind him as part of Zuffa organizations (WEC/UFC), Leonard Garcia is definitely the most experienced fighter Kevin Aguilar will have faced but he’s also presumed to be one the hungriest as well. Jettisoned from the UFC after a string of five straight losses (including two FOTN performances) in last 2012, Leonard has done nothing but win since signing with Texas-based Legacy FC in early 2013. He’s won two in a row against opponents Rey Trujillo and Nick Gonzalez as part of Legacy and he’s done so as part of a mission to get back in with Dana White and Co., the same place Kevin Aguilar also wants to go when it comes to career trajectory. So this bout will definitely be a case of old lion vs. new – and only one will progress forward towards their goal while earning the Legacy FC featherweight title in the process.
Most pundits would point to Garcia, the more well-known commodity, as the prohibit favorite in this featherweight fight. However one point of comparison that shows it might be closer than most might think lie in their mutual opponents – Trujillo and Gonzalez. Garcia and Aguilar both scored decision wins over “The Ghost” and both finished Trujillo as well – Garcia by technical knockout and Aguilar by submission. Neither being a small feat and both mutually impressive en route to their title shot here at Legacy FC 26.
As for Kevin Aguilar, this is his chance at something greater than what he’s ever had before – the proverbial opportunity to carry his name far beyond the reaches of East Texas into international MMA circuit relevancy. And hence this is the biggest fight ever for him.
Looking at past history, three Legacy FC champions so far (Andrew Craig, Daniel Pineda, Derrick Lewis) have parlayed their success in the Texas-based organization into UFC contracts. And even more fighters have made the transition even without the belt. So a success here against Garcia could no doubt be the launching pad for the rest of his career.
That fact has not been lost on Aguilar or his crew at Team 515.
“The Garcia fight is one we asked for as the title fight,” says his manager/coach Cam Buchanan. “Leonard is an exciting fighter with a ton of experience at the highest level. We know between these two guys it will be a main event that will not soon be forgotten. The opportunity to fight for Legacy, on AXS TV, in the main event, as a title fight, against Garcia in the last fight card of the year for Legacy is the perfect storm for an opportunity for the world to see Kevin’s skills. He’s has been an underdog his whole career and I think (after this fight) sneaking up on people is about to cease.”