The results:
Allen Nelson TKO Cameron Martin
Julian Shore split dec David Mazurek
Chris Lopez TKO Mike Salazar
Carlos Vergara TKO Jonathan Ramirez
Tessa Simpson dec Paulina Granados
Rodrigo Pinheiro sub (RNC) Joseph Daily
185 MW Rogert Narvaez dec 262 MW Hayward Charles
28 HW Richard Odoms dec 35 HW DJ Linderman
89 FW Leonard Garcia sub (RNC) Nick Gonzalez
60 WW Tim Means KO Pete Spratt
(all rankings from Fight Matrix)
There were no Patrick Ybarra flying armbars this time around but there was a great mix of submissions, KOs, and even exciting decisions.
Fighters to watch:
Allen Nelson and Chris Lopez fought a combined total of 18 seconds. How's that for starting off the show? My friends, your run of the mill watch the occasional Jon Jones fight in the bar, were immediately ready to go after those two fights.
C.J. Vergara, a PSMT/RPBJJ product toyed with his food before he ate it. He spent the better part of three minutes absolutely dominating Ramirez, even allowing him free shots, before seemingly deciding that he felt like finishing the fight. It was the most dominating fight of the night and showed big promise for the 22 year old 2-0 prospect.
Tessa Simpson, a BJJ brown belt from Austin put on a grappling clinic in her seemingly easy decision win. It was her first fight in over 4 years but there was no ring rust on her and she continually took Granado's back. It will be interesting to see what LFC does with her now. It's too bad that there's not much of a 115 weight class for women because I'd love to see her get bigger fight. Although, if she keeps downing giant plates of wings like she did at Chacho's later that night, her next fight might be at 125.
Another fighter coming off a long layoff was Rodrigo Pinheiro. He hadn't fought in three years, his last fight a loss to current UFC MW Andrew Craig at Bellator 27. He held his own in the early going on his feet before catching a Daily body kick and taking it to the mat. As a third degree black belt and world champion, the submission was an inevitability. I couldn't help but think "hey that looks familiar" as he went from half guard, to side mount, to back mount, to the quick rear naked choke. Pinheiro's future also strikes me as interesting. With his BJJ pedigree, he is the favorite on the ground against nearly every welterweight in the world (with the exception of Demian Maia). Training with Pete Spratt has also helped his Muay Thai. One would think that he would move up the card or maybe another shot on a Bellator card. Hopefully he gets booked soon.
One fighter that I know got booked is Richard Odoms. The judges made me happy on this one as Linderman did everything in his power to make this a boring fight. Two thirds of the fight was spent with Linderman holding onto the Black Eagle's waist, pressing him up against the cage while Odoms dropped elbows. I wish I could see the final fight statistics because Odoms must have outlanded Linderman 2-1 including some snapping leg kicks and powerful knees in the clinch. As much as Linderman was boring, I have to credit Odoms' take down defense as, although Linderman spent 13 minutes searching for a takedown, he only spent about 10 seconds on his butt. Odoms is headed to Poland for his next fight but is being tight lipped about when and against who. He's another one that I'd love to see return to Bellator, this time for their heavyweight tournament.
Leonard Garcia did what Leonard Garcia does best- throw away the game plan and throw wild, looping punches. Just what my friends, who were past their fourth beer, were looking for. After getting dropped in the first and battering The Ghost in the second, the Bad Boy topped off the fight with a rear naked choke. Afterward, Garcia said his plan is to submit more opponents. I'm not sure if that's what he was thinking for most of the fight, but that's certainly how he ended it. Look for Leonard Garcia coming to a UFC card near you.
Finally, the main event. Tim Means, coming off two decision losses in the UFC moved up a weight class to face the 42 year old Spratt. The first two minutes were competitive before Dirty Bird opened a little bit of space and landed two elbows that sent Spratt face first to the canvas. Spratt spent an uncomfortably long time on the ground before making it back to his feet in time to announce his retirement. Means was very gracious in victory, even thanking the San Antonio fans and saying he'd rather fight in Legacy than the UFC. I, for one, would be glad to see him headline another LFC show here in San Antonio. It seems that Spratt's post-fight retirement was a bit hasty, however, as he has since asked the TAC to change the result to a no contest due to illegal blows. Many people were claiming that Means' elbows found the back of Spratt's head instead of the side. After being their live and watching the replay multiple times, it is still hard to say. To me, the blows looked legal but they are certainly close. Spratt is asking for a rematch against Means in December, but says that he will be content to stay retired and continue coaching.
All in all it was a 4-1 night for my new team and an exciting night of fights. I will be at that show in December and am interested to see where some of these fighters go from here.
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