(Highlights via AXS TV. Full fight video is after the jump.)
Earlier this year, we marveled at the improbable career comeback of Leonard Garcia, who had gone from UFC washout with five-straight losses to a Legacy FC featherweight champion with three-straight victories. I mean, sure, he was beating Legacy FC-caliber competition, but he was finishing those guys; he didn’t have to rely on loud grunting and impressionable judges to make it happen.
Well, we must have cursed him, because the Bad Boy Era has ended as quickly as it began. Garcia was defeated in his first attempted title defense at Legacy FC 33 on Friday night, tapping out to an arm-triangle choke against 25-year-old Texas native Damon “The Leech” Jackson at the 1:32 mark of round 1. Jackson increases his undefeated record to 9-0, with all wins via stoppage within the first two rounds. So maybe we should keep an eye on this guy.
Garcia was originally supposed to defend his title at Legacy FC 29 in March against Shane Howell, but Howell dropped out of the fight on short notice due to illness. (“Garcia then proposed to his girlfriend in the cage to apparently salvage the trip.”)
2014 is now The Leech Era. Please spread awareness.
(Fight starts at the 7:56 mark.)