The Houston Arena Theater hosted Legacy Amateur Series 19 this past Saturday. Due to several dropouts the week of the fight, there were only eight bouts, and out of those eight bouts, 6 were finishes.
Shawn Solis and Corey Gallow kicked the night off. Both guys started slow, but it was Solis who used his grappling to dictate the pace of the fight. Repeatedly taking Gallow down, he eventually was able to take Gallow’s back and submitted him with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
The following three fights ended in submissions as well. Alex Macedo submitted John Smith in the second round with a guillotine choke; this was after out striking him on the feet. In the third fight, Kyle Shenkir submitted Adam Haidar in the first round. Both fighters came out hard, Shenkir was able to land some shots on the feet and drop Haidar. After recovering, Haidar was able to catch a low kick from Shenkir and trip him, but then fell into a triangle choke. Showing good sportsmanship, Shenkir quickly released the submission, well before the ref was able to step in.
Two debuting heavyweights, Fernando Vega and Sheldon Groves, clashed in a quick match. Groves was never able to get going in this fight. Vega came out firing early and was able to get a takedown. During a scramble, Vega took Groves’ back and submitted him with a rear-naked choke. After the fight, Collin Cantrell made it known publicly that a good friend of Groves had died in an accident the day before. His family tried to keep the news from him till after the fight, but eventually he found out.
Nino Villareal and Sunny Quang would be the first fight to go to the judges. Villareal was able to keep constant pressure on Quang by walking him down, but didn’t throw much in the opening round. Quang was able to land some good shots, but none seem to hurt Villareal. In rounds 2 and 3, Villareal began to let his hands go, and had most of his success with his combinations; Villareal won via split decision.
The next bout was Ricky Rivas versus Joel Arnold. Arnold was on defense the entire fight. Rivas was able to get Arnold down early in the fight, and attempted multiple submissions. Somehow, Arnold was able to escape all of the submission attempts in the first round. After Rivas regrouped between rounds, he made the needed adjustments and lock in an armbar that was too tight for Arnold to escape.
Before the co-main event, Legacy announcer, Collin Cantrell, welcomed into the cage, the children of fallen HPD officer, Richard Martin. There was a short video tribute, and Collin Cantrell spoke briefly about the officer, and roughly 500 other officers who were in attendance.
The co-main event put Derrick Ageday against Ryan Baker. Ageday’s background is in wrestling, but he came out looking to show his striking. After landing some solid strikes, Ageday was able to land a beautiful suplex to get the fight to the ground. While on the ground during the first two rounds, Baker looked to defend the ground and pound, and was able to survive. In round 3, Ageday dropped Baker with a straight left, and was finally able to finish with strikes and got the TKO victory.
The main event was Zach Henson and Casey Jones. Jones took the fight on about a week’s notice, and was ready to fight. Casey threw and landed a several flashy kicks and spinning attacks to keep Henson guessing. Henson was able to time some of those strikes and land big shots of his own. Both guys stood and traded the entire fight, but it was Henson who kept the forward pace. Henson would earn a split decision in the closely contested fight.
Fight Night Awards
FOTN – Zach Henson and Casey Jones
KOTN – N/A
SOTN – Kyle Shenkir
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