By TXMMA Staff | Photos by Mike Calimbas (MMA Photography)
Tim “Dirty Bird” Means and Henry Cejudo shine in featured bouts; Machado vs. Pilarte nab FOTN honors
HOUSTON, TX, February 1, 2014 – The Arena Theatre was the scene for professional MMA in Houston once again last night, January 31st with Legacy Fighting Championship 27 taking place in the promotion’s longtime venue of choice in the Bayou City. The first Legacy FC card of the year featured a pair of the organization’s more notable signings in recent times looking for their second wins in the promotion with Tim “Dirty Bird” Means taking on hometown favorite hometown favorite Artenas “Machine Gun” Young and 2008 US Olympian Henry Cejudo facing off against South Texas based Elias “Smash” Garcia.
Tim Means didn’t waste any time in the main event, finishing Young by TKO in the first round of their fight after landing a left knee that had Artenas on trouble against the fence. “Dirty Bird” quickly pounced on his hurt opponent with a flurry of strikes to force the ref stoppage by Joe Soliz. After the separation Artenas was quick to complain about a premature end to the bout but he was did look defenseless at the time of the stoppage. With this win, Tim now moves to 20-5-1 overall as remains undefeated since being cut from the UFC in July 2013.
Henry Cejudo also remained undefeated in Legacy FC after scoring a unanimous decision over Elias Garcia despite “Smash” landing the first power strike of the bout, a big right hand in the opening minute. Unfortunately for him that only set the tone for the rest of the bout as Henry went to his wrestling to smother, control and dominate the rest of the bout en route to the judges’ scorecards. Following the bout Henry did move to apologize to the fans and promotion for missing weight for the bout. He can in 2.5 lbs. over the flyweight limit after arriving at weigh-ins almost 3 hours late the day before. He was fined $1,000 for the infraction and is expected to be suspended for 90 to 180 days by the TDLR as punishment for his late arrival to weigh-ins.
Elsewhere on the main card Larry Crowe won a unanimous decision over Terrence Ferguson by virtue of a more durable gas tank while Alex Black picked up perhaps his most impressive win in years as he snapped Charles Cheeks’ 6-fight win streak with a second round submission.
Next up was our pick for the fight of the night with young Brazilian prospect Caio Machado taking on Houston’s own riser Domingo Pilarte. This was undoubtedly the most action packed fight of the night with both guys going throwing caution to the wind from the get go. Domingo would be the first to come out aggressively but Caio would whether the storm on the feet and also with Pilarte’s early guillotine attempt to come back and land strikes and submission attempts of his own. By the third both guys looked like they had been in a war with Caio’s eye swollen nearly shut and Domingo bleeding all over him. The difference here was again cardio as the Brazilian finished the fight stronger to earn the 29-28 score on all three judges’ scorecards.
Last but not least on the main card was the Blackzillians’ Kamaru Usman making his Legacy FC debut in grand fashion, dropping Steven Rodriguez with a big left hook and finishing him on the ground before the midway point of the first round in their fight.
Complete Legacy FC 27 Photo Gallery available here – http://www.mikecalimbas.com/MMA/LFC27
Check out complete results for the entire Legacy FC 27 card along with photo highlights below.
Legacy Fighting Championship 27 – Quick Results
Legacy FC 27 – Main Card Results (AXS TV)
- Tim Means def. Artenas Young via TKO (strikes)–Round 1, 1:38
- Henry Cejudo vs. Elias Garcia via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Larry Crowe def. Terrence Ferguson via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Alex Black def. Charles Cheeks via Submission (Triangle Choke)–Round 2, 1:33
- Caio Machado def. Domigo Pilarte via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Kamaru Usman def. Steven Rodriguez via TKO (strikes)–Round 1, 1:31
Legacy FC 27 – Preliminary Card Results
- Rashid Abdullah def. Charlie Ontiveros via TKO (injury)–Round 3, 1:05
- Jeremy Mahon def. James Gonzalez via Submission (Triangle Choke)–Round 3, 1:31
- Trevin Giles def. Angelus McFarlane via Submission (Inverted Triangle Choke)–Round 1, 1:15
- Aaron Reeves def. Julius Holmes via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- John Gorrell def. John Hayden via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Legacy Fighting Championship 27 – Photo Highlights
► Complete Legacy FC 27 Photo Gallery available here – http://www.mikecalimbas.com/MMA/LFC27