The Aftermath: Legacy FC 37 Results and Highlights

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9 years Ago

By TXMMA Staff // Photos by Mike Calimbas

Legacy Fighting Championship 37 delivers another exciting fight card in Houston

HOUSTON, TX – This past Friday, November 14^th marked the return of big-time pro MMA in the Bayou City with Mick Maynard and crew presenting Legacy Fighting Championship 37. Aired on AXS TV, the show featured several big time fights, including the return of two-division champion Daniel Pineda against fellow UFC veteran Leonard Garcia. Truth be told the event had plenty in the way of exciting bouts and dominating performances, so let’s get to it and recap them below!

Daniel Pineda is back; Leonard Garcia retires following submission loss

Daniel Pineda is back.

A two-division champion, Daniel Pineda was the very first fighter in the Legacy FC era to graduate to the UFC back in January 2012. He performed admirably in octagon during the past two years, fighting 7 times and going 3-4 during that stretch while battling injuries and taking bouts on short notice.

Making his return to the promotion where he made his name, “Pit” would face another notable former champion in “Bad Boy” Leonard Garcia. It was expected by many to be a slobberknocker and one that wouldn’t make it to the judges’ cards. Turns out those prognosticators were only half right as the bout ended quickly in the first courtesy of a Pineda submission. He got the takedown on Garcia in the opening moments and from there worked the submission until he got it – the “Pitmura” as dubbed by his 4OZ Fight Club teammate Tony Nguyen. Pineda now moves to 19-11 overall following the victory and it seems all but certain that his next move puts his eye squarely on regaining his Legacy FC 145 lbs. belt.

As for Leonard Garcia, he announced his retirement immediately following the fight. Garcia cited age and a reluctance to combat all of today’s ground fighters as his reason to hang up the 4OZ gloves. He’s lost 7 out of his last 10 bouts with most of those losses coming to fighters with wrestling/BJJ ability. Despite his shortfalls in those areas, Garcia will still go down as one of the more exciting fighters in MMA history. He’s never backed down from a slugfest with anybody and that will be his legacy. Speaking of which, Leonard did not close the door on kickboxing so fans may not have completely seen the last of him yet, especially not with Legacy Kickboxing developing as a premier player beginning in 2015.

Mike “The Greek” Bronzoulis also triumphant in his Houston return

Speaking of resurgent fighters, “The Greek” Mike Bronzoulis might be considered one now after his unlikely win at Legacy FC 37. Mike faced a highly-respected prospect in Justin Reiswerg. Much like the main event, this bout was expected to be closely contested and was certainly an intriguing matchup. It lived up to its co-main event billing with the bout going back and forth until the second round finish. Primarily a striker who wears out his opponents, few expected Bronzoulis to pull off the submission against his BJJ brown belt opponent but that’s exactly what he was able to do in sinking that rear-naked-choke to pull off his most impressive win in over almost three years.

Now competing in a new weight division of 155 lbs. Mike Bronzoulis will no doubt have some matchup options he previously didn’t have before. And with an ever-improving skill set that includes more time spent with Romulo Reis and crew at the Rilion Gracie Academy along with Muay Thai training at Revolution Dojo with Nete Mongonia and of course Saul Soliz at Metro fight Cub, there’s no telling what the Greek will pull off next.

Larry Crowe continues his roll with first round TKO at LFC 37

Also scoring an impressive win at Legacy FC 37 was Katy’s Larry “Tae Kwon” Crowe. The former Silverback FC fighter went back to his routes in playing Donkey Kong Smash on his opponent’s head. Poor Quentin Henry had to endure a lengthy beating on the floor before referee Jake Montalvo called a halt to the bout at the 1:06 mark of the first round. Fighters usually appreciate being given as much time as possible to recover when put in bad spots. Montalvo certainly gave him that courtesy this time around but Crowe was just too overwhelming and got the job done.

With the victory Larry Crowe left the cage at an impressive 9-3 overall with three straight wins since losing his last title bout to former champ and now UFC fighter Bubba Bush. With that record and the manner in which he’s won his recent bouts, Crowe is fast approaching another opportunity to challenge for the title.

Best of the Rest; Prospect Report coming out of Legacy FC 37

The Legacy FC 37 card includes some other big wins outside of the three marquee bouts of the night. Let’s briefly go over some of these bouts.

In a battle of two rising Texas prospects, Geoffrey Neal would defeat “American Bad Boy” Charlie Ontiveros. Though both fighters have been impressive, with Charlie beating Artenas Young in his last outing and Geoff having won 2 in a row heading into this one. It was closely contested early but Neal would use his grappling ability to pull away en route to Ontiveros retiring between rounds 2 & 3 citing a broken jaw. At 5-1 compared to Ontiveros’ 5-3, Neal leaves the bout as the clear prospect to watch at welterweight.

Also winning on the main card were Jonathan Harris, who bested vet Antonio Flores, and Legacy debut fighter Augusto Mendes, who beat fellow Arizonan Richard Delfin by submission.

“Tanquinho” Mendes is particular is one to watch in the bantamweight division given his pedigree as a BJJ world champion. Now 3-0 in MMA following LFC 37, Mendes should fight 1 or 2 more before facing some serious competition and really seeing where his mettle lies. In fact, it could be sooner than that as he was going to face fellow undefeated Brazilian Bruno Vianna (7-0) on this card, a bout only fizzled out due to Vianna landing in the UFC TUF house down in Brasil for the next season.

Moving along the Legacy FC 37 undercard showed some fighters with promise as well. Two in particular will prove to be future contenders and TXMMA fighters to watch in Levi Mowles and Sage Northcutt.

The Dallas native Levi Mowles was thrown in the fire his first time out facing another top bantamweight prospect in Adrian Yanez. He passed that test with flying colors, using his boxing, grappling and GNP skills to win a dominating three round decision.

Meanwhile Northcutt faces a less than stiff test in Tim Lashley. Given Sage’s serious credentials and improving skill set, and despite Tim’s commendable heart and fighting spirit (balls), this bout was equivalent to trotting out Barry Horowitz to face The Ultimate Warrior in an old school WWF match. Needless to say it ended in a quick first round TKO. And we’re just glad ole Barry, err Timmy, didn’t get seriously hurt. He’ll live to fight another day. As for Sage, he’s on his way to study at Texas A&M as a recently accepted Aggie. He’s also due to fight at Legacy Kickboxing 1 opposite Charlie Ontiveros this January. Given both their penchants as striking specialists, that one should be no less than exciting.

Other winners at LFC 37 included debuting pros Mike Deleon, David Acosta and Stephanie Alba.

Next up for Legacy FC is the much anticipated kickboxing card scheduled for January 16^th. Until then, check out the complete results and some shots from LFC 37 below.

Complete Legacy FC 37 photo gallery available here.

LFC 37 – Main Card Results

Daniel Pineda def. Leonard Garcia via submission (kimura), RD1
Mike Bronzoulis def. Justin Reiswerg via submission (RNC). RD2
Larry Crowe def. Quentin Henry via TKO (strikes), RD1
Geoffrey Neal def. Charlie Ontiveros via TKO (strikes), RD3
Jonathan Harris def. Antonio Flores via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Augusto Tanquinho Mendes def. Richard Delfin via submission (RNC), RD1

LFC 37 – Prelim Card Results