Two of the premier regional promotions in North America have come together, as Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Championship have formed Legacy Fighting Alliance.
The new promotion will begin in 2017 with 30 shows planned for AXS TV.
“AXS TV is proud to broadcast the LFA to help create MMA’s premier developmental league,” said Mark Cuban, founder and CEO of AXS TV, in a press release. “AXS TV FIGHTS’ expanded 2017 lineup builds on AXS TV’s 13-year, 336-fight legacy as ‘Your Home for MMA’ with more live mixed martial arts and kickboxing events than any other TV network.”
Current Legacy FC champions will meet current RFA titleholders to crown the first LFA champion in each weight division. Legacy FC’s Mick Maynard was recently introduced as an executive with the UFC.
To open up more hours for the live events, “Inside MMA” will air its final show on September 30. The program debuted in 2007 and featured Mauro Ranallo, Bas Rutten, Ron Kruck and Kenny Rice.
“INSIDE MMA blazed the trail for mainstream media’s acceptance of MMA,” Cuban said. “Bas, Kenny and Ron were there from the start, introducing the sport and its stars to a national television audience when other networks and newspapers were too afraid and out of touch to recognize its appeal.”
Two of the premier regional promotions in North America have come together, as Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Championship have formed Legacy Fighting Alliance.
The new promotion will begin in 2017 with 30 shows planned for AXS TV.
“AXS TV is proud to broadcast the LFA to help create MMA’s premier developmental league,” said Mark Cuban, founder and CEO of AXS TV, in a press release. “AXS TV FIGHTS’ expanded 2017 lineup builds on AXS TV’s 13-year, 336-fight legacy as ‘Your Home for MMA’ with more live mixed martial arts and kickboxing events than any other TV network.”
Current Legacy FC champions will meet current RFA titleholders to crown the first LFA champion in each weight division. Legacy FC’s Mick Maynard was recently introduced as an executive with the UFC.
To open up more hours for the live events, “Inside MMA” will air its final show on September 30. The program debuted in 2007 and featured Mauro Ranallo, Bas Rutten, Ron Kruck and Kenny Rice.
“INSIDE MMA blazed the trail for mainstream media’s acceptance of MMA,” Cuban said. “Bas, Kenny and Ron were there from the start, introducing the sport and its stars to a national television audience when other networks and newspapers were too afraid and out of touch to recognize its appeal.”
Women in combat sports have come a very long long way since the inception of the bantamweight division in the UFC in late 2012. Female fighters like Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, and Cris “Cyborg” Justino have made big names for themselves as the athletes at the forefront of the women’s movement in MMA. While
Women in combat sports have come a very long long way since the inception of the bantamweight division in the UFC in late 2012.
Female fighters like Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, and Cris “Cyborg” Justino have made big names for themselves as the athletes at the forefront of the women’s movement in MMA.
While the UFC is obviously still the No. 1 organization in MMA, there are many up-and-coming female mixed martial artists in other organizations who are working their way to be the future stars of tomorrow.
Check out our list of rising women mixed martial artists who may be the next female fighters signed on to the UFC.
Friday night at Legacy FC 36, bantamweight veteran Damacio Page knocked out Brian Hall about as ferociously as one person can knock out another person. Less than two minutes into the bout, Page landed a sledgehammer overhand right that put Hall into falling tree mode. It was one of those super creepy knockouts where Hall was totally unconscious, but his eyes remained open (aka, “The Living Death”). Page is now 4-0 under the Legacy banner, with all four wins by stoppage.
Expect to see this knockout on some end-of-year lists, although this is still the 2014 KOTY frontrunner in my book.
Friday night at Legacy FC 36, bantamweight veteran Damacio Page knocked out Brian Hall about as ferociously as one person can knock out another person. Less than two minutes into the bout, Page landed a sledgehammer overhand right that put Hall into falling tree mode. It was one of those super creepy knockouts where Hall was totally unconscious, but his eyes remained open (aka, “The Living Death”). Page is now 4-0 under the Legacy banner, with all four wins by stoppage.
Expect to see this knockout on some end-of-year lists, although this is still the 2014 KOTY frontrunner in my book.
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.
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.
Far be it from us to knock an Olympic wrestler for his lack of work ethic, but we’ve begun to notice an alarming and depressing trend in the MMA career of Henry Cejudo. Mainly, that he has more or less flaked out of his last four scheduled fights under the Legacy Fighting Championships banner, and even worse, the fights he actually did show up for in that time, he did at a significantly reduced payrate due to his inability to make weight.
Could it be that Cejudo has some dire life circumstance to tend to, like Rousimar Palhares and his sick mother? It’s possible, but the much more likely scenario is that Cejudo lacks either the time or the commitment to make 125 lbs, even as far out from the fight as he is, and has withdrawn in a last ditch attempt to save his rapidly descending reputation in the MMA world.
(Photo via The Gazette.)
Far be it from us to knock an Olympic wrestler for his lack of work ethic, but we’ve begun to notice an alarming and depressing trend in the MMA career of Henry Cejudo. Mainly, that he has more or less flaked out of his last four scheduled fights under the Legacy Fighting Championships banner, and even worse, the fights he actually did show up for in that time, he did at a significantly reduced payrate due to his inability to make weight.
Could it be that Cejudo has some dire life circumstance to tend to, like Rousimar Palhares and his sick mother? It’s possible, but the much more likely scenario is that Cejudo lacks either the time or the commitment to make 125 lbs, even as far out from the fight as he is, and has withdrawn in a last ditch attempt to save his rapidly descending reputation in the MMA world.
For the youngest American wrestler to win a gold medal in Olympic history, weight-cutting issues seem especially uncharacteristic. Wrestlers have long been lauded for their almost unparalleled discipline when it comes to cutting weight — just look at how Daniel Cormier was able to make the drop to light heavyweight after years of weight mismanagement — and for a guy of Cejudo’s caliber, it’s simply inexcusable.
But sadly, it appears that Cejudo’s professional career has been on a downswing ever since his comeback attempt in the 2012 Olympic Trials, where his lack of motivation was immediately noticeable to those who knew him best (via BloodyElbow):
Between the 2008 Olympics and the 2012 trials, Cejudo was off the mat for almost two and a half years. He did not engage in training for a second Olympic title until February of 2011. This is an awful long time, particularly considering that all of Henry’s strongest competition was spending that time competing for world championships.
When Henry first came back to training he announced his intent to train at the regional training center (RTC) at The University of Iowa with Coach Terry Brands.
Terry Brands is a distinguished figure in the wrestling world. Brands has won world championships, an Olympic bronze medal, and as an Olympic Training Center resident coach he was largely responsible for molding Henry Cejudo into an Olympic champion. Terry and Henry had grown close during Cejudo’s gold medal run and a number of publications describe Brands as a father figure to Henry.
When considering a athlete/coach relationship woven so tightly, it was particularly alarming to hear reports in July of 2011 that Cejudo left the Iowa RTC due to Brands disapproval over the time Henry was spending in his commercial ventures.
After leaving Iowa, Cejudo briefly trained at Ohio State’s RTC, but citing homesickness, Henry left to spend the bulk of his Olympic trials preparation residing in Arizona and away from any elite wrestling training sites. Almost all wrestlers serious about qualifying for an Olympic team reside at a regional training center or the Olympic Training Center in Colorado (or both). Cejudo spent his crunch time preparation for the trials working out at The Training Room, a strength and conditioning facility in Scottsdale run by Brian Davis, a former NFL defensive back. (when asked about Cejudo’s preparations for the trials, Davis’s response was somewhat…odd.)
Henry’s unusual choices in training arrangements, when combined with the mixed results at the only three competitive wrestling events he attended before the trials, led some in the wrestling world to doubt if he would even be in attendance in Iowa City for the Olympic trials.
It was at those Olympic Trials that Cejudo would be defeated by top-seeded Nick Simmons in the semifinals before throwing his shoes into the crowd, a symbolic gesture of his retirement from wrestling at just 25 years of age.
So what has been behind Cejudo’s fall from grace? Some say that he has become too preoccupied with the public persona he has built over the years, and the litany of high-profile endorsement deals, book deals, and even play deals that have followed. Others say that the neuro-linguistic programming outfit Cejudo has become involved with, Champion by Design, has all but brainwashed the kid with new-age, self-help gobbledygook.
It’s hard to tell, but one thing’s for certain: Cejudo has dropped out of yet another fight, and is well on his way to becoming perhaps the biggest bust in MMA history. And what a shame it would be for a self-described, “kid who grew up in poverty, a son of Mexican immigrants that came to the United States with a dream.” Not that success in a mid-level MMA promotion is comparable to Olympic glory, but still, it would have been nice to see what could have been.
(Garcia upsets Kevin Aguilar to win the LFC featherweight title last December. Highlights via AXS TV.)
2013 may have been a toss up between “The Year of the Rhino,” “The Year of the California Kid,” and “The Year of the Ruthless“(?), but there was one former UFC star who perhaps had the greatest career turnaround of them all: Leonard Garcia. Sure, the back-to-back-to-back stoppage victories Garcia picked up under the Legacy FC banner pale in comparison to the high-level wins of the other candidates, but none of those guys were coming off five straight losses either.
Yes, after kicking off last year by getting kicked out of the UFC following a loss to Cody “Tags” McKenzie at UFC 159, Garcia signed with Legacy Fighting Championships and proceeded to go on a three fight tear capped off by a first round TKO over the previously undefeated Kevin Aguilar at LFC 27 that earned him the promotion’s featherweight title. While it might not be the crowning achievement of his career, at least Garcia had to earn the damn thing (*cough* Rousimar Palhares *cough*).
Any which way you look at it, Garcia had a hell of a 2013. And on March 21st, “Bad Boy” will look to keep his win streak going when he faces Bellator and KOTC veteran Shane Howell at Legacy FC 27 in what will hopefully be his first title defense. Not that we have a dog in this fight or anything.
Don’t let Howell’s mediocre 13-7 record fool you, the Oklahoman has been on an absolute tear as of late. Currently riding a six-fight win streak with five finishes and nine victories in his past ten bouts, Howell should easily make for Garcia’s toughest test since exiting the UFC. So yeah, it’s 2014 and Leonard Garcia is *defending* the title of a semi-reputable organization. Who saw that coming?
(Garcia upsets Kevin Aguilar to win the LFC featherweight title last December. Highlights via AXS TV.)
2013 may have been a toss up between “The Year of the Rhino,” “The Year of the California Kid,” and “The Year of the Ruthless“(?), but there was one former UFC star who perhaps had the greatest career turnaround of them all: Leonard Garcia. Sure, the back-to-back-to-back stoppage victories Garcia picked up under the Legacy FC banner pale in comparison to the high-level wins of the other candidates, but none of those guys were coming off five straight losses either.
Yes, after kicking off last year by getting kicked out of the UFC following a loss to Cody “Tags” McKenzie at UFC 159, Garcia signed with Legacy Fighting Championships and proceeded to go on a three fight tear capped off by a first round TKO over the previously undefeated Kevin Aguilar at LFC 27 that earned him the promotion’s featherweight title. While it might not be the crowning achievement of his career, at least Garcia had to earn the damn thing (*cough* Rousimar Palhares *cough*).
Any which way you look at it, Garcia had a hell of a 2013. And on March 21st, “Bad Boy” will look to keep his win streak going when he faces Bellator and KOTC veteran Shane Howell at Legacy FC 27 in what will hopefully be his first title defense. Not that we have a dog in this fight or anything.
Don’t let Howell’s mediocre 13-7 record fool you, the Oklahoman has been on an absolute tear as of late. Currently riding a six-fight win streak with five finishes and nine victories in his past ten bouts, Howell should easily make for Garcia’s toughest test since exiting the UFC. So yeah, it’s 2014 and Leonard Garcia is *defending* the title of a semi-reputable organization. Who saw that coming?
