By TXMMA Staff // Dez Moore
Looking back at the biggest submission finishes in Legacy FC for 2014
HOUSTON, TX – Mick Maynard and his Legacy Fighting Championship crew had a busy 2014 schedule hosting 11 professional events, expanding events outside of Texas, and the announcement of Legacy Kickboxing. With 11 professional events this year featuring 28 knockouts and 44 submissions there was no shortage of excitement. TXMMA has compiled the best moments of this year in “The Best of Legacy Fighting Championship 2014”.
#1 – LFC 31: Bubba Bush (8-2) def. Alfonso Gonzalez (6-1) by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in Round 1.
The Legacy stalwart, Bubba Bush, retained his middleweight title with his submission victory over previously undefeated Alfonso Gonzalez. Bush was just too much for Gonzalez taking him down and securing the rear-naked choke. This was Bush’s last fight before he was called up to the UFC.
#2 – LFC 37: Mike De Leon (1-0) def. Jacob Silva (0-1) by Submission (Leg Lock)
Mike De Leon pulled off a sneaky victory over Jacob Silva at Legacy 37. The fighter from NCMA submitted Silva by leg lock after being rocked by a right hook from Silva and ending up on the ground. De Leon showed great discipline while enduring some ground-and-pound from Silva, as he grabbed Silva’s left leg and positioned himself to force the tap.
#3 – LFC 31: Damacio Page (19-9) def. Elias Garcia (4-2) by Submission (Arm-Triangle) in Round 3.
Eias Garcia was called up to fight Damacio Page as Henry Cejudo pulled out of the bout for “personal reasons”. The original bout between Page and Cejudo was for the Legacy FC flyweight title, but with Cejudo backing out that meant the title fight was backing out too. That was not going to stop Page from fighting and finishing Garcia. Garcia started the fight with some momentum taking Page down, but after that Page reversed the tides and dominated Garcia with superior grappling. The fight came to an end as Page sunk in an arm-triangle choke and forced Garcia to tap.
#4 – LFC 37: Mike Bronzoulis (16-8) def. Justin Reiswerg (8-4) by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in Round 1.
Justin Reiswerg came into this bout with Mike Bronzoulis riding a three-fight winning streak. This was Bronzoulis’ first time fighting at lightweight and it was a successful move down the weight system upsetting Reiswerg by a rear-naked choke. Reiswerg was beating Bronzoulis up in this fight slamming him and causing him to bleed over his eye. With a mask full of blood, Bronzoulis pulled the rear-naked choke out of nowhere with only nine seconds left in the second round.
#5 – LFC 32: Quentin Henry (8-3) def. Nicholas Jackson (3-1) by Submission (Arm-bar) in Round 1.
After landing some nicely timed heavy shots, Quentin Henry, secured his victory over Nicholas Jackson in the first round by an arm-bar submission. The entire fight was Henry landing heavy shots and dropping Jackson to the ground. Once the fight stayed on the ground, Jackson slipped into a belly-down arm-bar and Henry cranked until Jackson tapped and the referee stopped it.
#6 – LFC 35: Rafael Lovato Jr. (1-0) def. Canann Grigsby (4-2) by Submission (Arm-Triangle) in Round 1.
The MMA debut for Rafael Lovato Jr. was nothing short of a surprise for MMA and BJJ fans. Lovato Jr. showed good standup before taking the fight to the ground and showing the MMA world why he is considered one of the best in BJJ. Grigsby fought valiantly against the submission but had no chance as Lovato Jr. secured full mount then sunk in the arm-triangle choke.
#7 – LFC 35: Derrick Krantz (16-8) def. Daniel Roberts (15-6) by Submission (Von Flue) in Round 1.
Derrick “D-Rock” Krantz has a knack for pulling off submissions with 10 of his 16 victories ending via submission. His submission over Daniel Roberts might be his most impressive so far. Midway through the first round, Krantz had Roberts on the ground against the cage and then applied a tight Von Flue choke that forced Roberts to tap.
#8 – LFC 37: Daniel Pineda (19-11) def. Leonard Garcia (18-13) by Submission (Kimura) in Round 1.
Legacy 37 marked the return of one of LFC’s most decorated fighter, Daniel “The Pit” Pineda, and the departure of one the best respected, “Bad Boy” Leonard Garcia. Many believed this would be a hard-hitting slugfest, but those predictions were wrong. Pineda mentioned the night prior to the fight that he would submit Garcia by Kimura and that is exactly what he did. Pineda shot for the takedown immediately and worked from the top until Garcia became vulnerable to the submission.
#9 – LFC 32: Tony Kelley (3-0) def. Christopher Pham (4-3) by Submission (Shoulder Choke) in Round 2.
Tony Kelley improved his undefeated record to 3-0 against Christopher Pham with a submission that left Pham unconscious at the end of it. Kelly impressed with his takedowns, ground control, and his striking ability landing some clean shots and head kicks. It was near the end of the second round when Kelley secured a standing rear-naked choke and brought Pham to the ground where he then shifted the choke causing Pham to render unconscious with just two seconds left in the round.
#10 – LFC 33: Damon Jackson (9-1) def. Leonard Garcia (18-13) by Submission (Arm-Triangle) in Round 1.
Garcia came into this title fight riding a three-fight winning streak and hopes to return to the UFC, but it was Jackson who killed those dreams in only 92 seconds to become just the third person to submit Leonard Garcia inside the cage and win his first professional title. This victory marked Jackson’s ninth win and ninth stoppage, and catapulted him to his first UFC fight less than a month later.
*The fighter records shown are as of December 29th, 2014