Legacy Fighting Championship 13 Recap – results, photo gallery, and highlights from Dallas Convention Center

DALLAS, TX, August 19, 2012 – Mick Maynard’s Legacy Fighting Championship held their first show outside of Houston in the DFW Metroplex this past Friday night (August 17^th) as part of the Europa Sports and Get Fit Expo held at the Dallas Convention Center.

Also broadcast LIVE to fans nationwide on AXS TV, Legacy Fighting Championship 13 to be a successful first foray into North-Central Texas for Legacy with many of the area’s top teams represented and a loyal fan base on hand to represent them.

As for the fights themselves, it’s safe to say this Legacy 13 card had a little bit of everything from vicious knockouts and thrilling submissions to some almost bizarre moments and close decisions.

Here are the quick results and the TXMMA Fight Night Awards from Legacy Fighting Championship 13 before we go over some of the major talking points coming out of last Friday night in Dallas:

 TXMMA Fight Night Awards

► Fight of the Night - Sean Spencer vs. Evan Cutts

► Knockout of the Night - Derrick Lewis & David Armas (tie)

► Submission of the Night - Hayward Charles over Russell Brewer (armbar)

LEGACY 13 Results – Main Card (AXS TV)

265 lbs.: Derrick Lewis over Jared Rosholt by KO, RD2 (title)
170 lbs.: Sean Spencer over Evan Cutts by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
155 lbs.: Chris Tickle over Douglas Frey by TKO (GNP), RD1
265 lbs.: Clayton Robinson over Donnie Bell by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
137 lbs.: Steven Peterson over Matt Hobar by TKO (injury stoppage), RD1
170 lbs.: Hayward Charles over Russell Brewer by submission (armbar), RD1
130 lbs.: Ryan Benoit over Randy Villareal by TKO (GNP), RD1

LEGACY 13 Results – Undercard (Untelevised)

185 lbs.: Sean Holden over Lior Shporen by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
155 lbs.: Burt McDonald over Casey Williams by submission (RNC), RD1
135 lbs.: David Armas over Quaint Kempf by KO (knee), RD3
125 lbs.: Evan Martinez over JP Cole by split decision (30-27, 27-30, 30-27)
145 lbs.: Ray Rodriguez over Joseph Salas by KO (slam), RD3

Legacy Fighting Championship 13 – Editorial Highlights

Legacy crowns inspirational new heavyweight champion

Derrick Lewis’ performance in the Legacy 13 main event was nothing short of inspiring and this has as much to do with his life outside the cage as it did how he fought. Heading into the bout the Houston native was dealing with the declining health of his grandfather, who he considers a big-time mentor in his life and someone he credits with helping him turn his life around. He almost didn’t fight to stay in the hospital with his grandfather who doctors said had days to live.

With his mind consumed on family and not by this fight, the biggest of his life, Derrick could have pulled out but something told him his paw-paw wouldn’t want to see things go down like that. He wouldn’t want him to quit.

So Derrick goes on to Dallas to face fearsome unbeaten heavyweight Jared Rosholt, a 4x NCAA All-American with an undefeated record in MMA.

Prior to the bout nobody had doubts about Lewis’ punching power but his weakness was supposed to be in the wrestling department. Rosholt was supposed to have his number.

That part was true for a round and a half as Rosholt repeatedly took Lewis down only to see “The Black Beast” stay resilient. He’d battle through a few submissions (north-south choke, kimura, etc.) but wouldn’t quit. Lewis also sprained his ankle big-time in round two but he would fight through that as well. Finally Derrick would tag his opponent with a huge uppercut before unleashing a few more blows that would fell the favorite for the upset and the distinction of becoming the first heavyweight champion in Legacy history.

While earning the Legacy title itself is an impressive feat, added to a list of titles already earned including one at both Fight to Win and IXFA, Derrick’s most impressive feat was battling through the adversity and sadness he was dealing with leading up to this fight.

We know his grandfather should be very proud.

Sean Spencer and Evan Cutts battle tooth-and-nail to a close decision

Leading up to this co-main event fight between Sean Spencer and Evan Cutts, many concluded that this bout would crown the unofficial top welterweight prospect currently residing out of the DFW area.

They weren’t wrong.

Spencer and Cutts would wage a three-round war for the ages with the result leaving people with the same impression that they came in with – that these two fighters are indeed very good.

It was a battle of strong suits in this one as Cutts controlled the majority of this fight with his grappling. Spencer wore him like a backpack on the first day of school for the majority of the three rounds while attempting submission but when he didn’t, Sean was all over him, peppering his face with vicious shots and inflicting some heavy damage as evident by the pictures.

In the end, it was a judges’ quandary to decide what weighed more – the grappling control and submission attempts or the damage. They ended up siding with the visual proof, awarding Sean Spencer with the unanimous decision victory for his ninth win overall.

Like many, I’ll have to re-watch this bout another time or two to guess for myself whether the judges’ got it right. My guess is they did but then again, this is entirely subjective and was a very close bout to call.

DFW proving to be a hotbed for MMA – Standout Performances 

Heading into fight night, I was particularly intrigued by this card primarily due to the homegrown talent from the DFW Metroplex scheduled to compete.

True I had seen several of these guys fight before and I’ve always known DFW to be a strong center for MMA training with all the quality teams in the area but my thought was that these matchups at Legacy 13 represented some big tests for some of the more highly-touted prospects from North Central Texas.

I was definitely interested to see who would come out passing with flying colors and where everyone else would fall.

Here’s a few quick thoughts on some other fighters that stood out to me – win or lose.

Ryan Benoit

Benoit’s win over Randy Villarreal was nothing short of dominant. The sky is the limit for him with his unique combination of Saekson Janjira Muay Thai, boxing, and wrestling. I know he weighed over for this fight but there has been talk of him trying to get down to compete at flyweight down the road. He’s a force at 135 lbs. but if he’s able to make this cut, I’d like to see how he stacks up in that class as well.

Hayward Charles

Hayward would come into this fight with a pedestrian .500 record compared to his opponent Russell Brewer’s 3-0 pedigree but something told me this would be a scrap considering the tough opponents Hayward has faced so far as a pro. He’s got some exceptional grappling too and didn’t take long to use it while locking up the win via first round armbar. It was a very technical performance by Charles and a well-earned win over a tough opponent that definitely jumps him up the charts. He tells us a trip to fight in Europe is next for the 23 year old so it’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

Clayton Robinson

This Octagon MMA fighter looked great in his fight against a very tough opponent in Donnie Bell. The question beforehand was how he would respond to such a tough wrestler of an opponent who also hits like a mack truck. Well he answered that with composure and resilience in earning the unanimous decision – three rounds to two. Clayton should be a force moving forward and it’ll be exciting to see who he’s matched up with next.

Best of the rest

Burt McDonald, Sean Holden, Ray Rodriguez, and the rest of the night’s winners impressed. Of course, I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of them back in action as well.

Legacy Fighting Championship 13 – Photo Gallery

We’ve added 500+ shots on the TXMMA Facebook Page but I’m also adding the complete gallery of 1,900+ photos to Mike Calimbas Photography. These are all available for anyone who wants high-quality prints, posters, or download for commercial license.

Here’s a sample slideshow from the event below. You can click on it to enter the full gallery.