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The Fighting Texas Aggie Returns this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 76

By TXMMA Staff

  BVMMA’s Bubba Bush to take on Garreth McLellan in Dublin, Ireland at UFC FN 76

  COLLEGE STATION, TX – It’s been one year and three months since College Station’s first UFC representative Bubba Bush stepped into the octagon. Making his way into the UFC by way of a successful run in the Legacy Fighting Championship, Bush would make his octagon debut at UFC 175. He would lose in a fight which ultimately was ruled a no contest after opponent Kevin Casey tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Since then Bush has been persona non grata in the cage, but he hasn’t been unproductive. Not in the least bit.

A leader, owner and coach at Bryan/College Station’s BVMMA (Brazos Valley Mixed Martial Arts), Bubba Bush has been focused on building others in lieu of putting all the focus on his fighting career. A pious man, he has preferred to lead his team by example – not by taking as many fights as he can and living the fighter lifestyle, but in living his daily life in a manner that puts others first. He and his wife are not only active in the church, they are active in charity work as well, championship causes like combatting human trafficking and helping the area’s youth. In the long-term, that type of humanitarian work, along with coaching, will prove to be Bubba’s true calling but for now he resumes his career as a UFC fighter.

Stepping back into the UFC cage this Saturday Oct. 24th, Bubba will square off against Irishman Garreth McLellan at UFC Fight Night 76 in Dublin. The entire card will be streamed via UFC Fight Pass and this moment will represent Bubba’s chance to do his UFC debut all over again and step out with a win this time. Casey bout aside and he’s 4-0 in his last four fights, all by way of stoppage. His opponent will be hungry as well after suffering a decision loss in his own UFC debut back in April of this year. McLellan won six straight prior to that and is eager to get back to his winning ways. With both guys hungry for victory, this should be a great fight.

Check out the complete card for UFC Fight Night 76 below:

  UFC Fight Night 76 – Main Card

125 lbs.: Paddy Holohan vs. Louis Smolka

155 lbs.: Reza Madadi vs. Norman Parke

170 lbs.: Nicolas Dalby vs. Darren Till

125 lbs.: Jon Delos Reyes vs. Neil Seery

UFC Fight Night 76 – Prelims

155 lbs.: Mickael Lebout vs. Stevie Ray

115 lbs.: Ericka Almeida vs. Aisling Daly

185 lbs.: Scott Askham vs. Krzysztof Jotko

170 lbs.: Tom Breese vs. Cathal Pendred

145 lbs.: Darren Elkins vs. Robert Whiteford

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Bubba Bush: Servant first, champion second; Defends belt at LFC 31

By Felix Rodriguez

  Legacy FC middleweight champion falls back to deep convictions and not selfish desires as he carries out God’s plan

  BRYAN/COLLEGE STATION, TX, July 12, 2014 – “The Fighting Texas Aggie” Bubba Bush (7-2) is a follower of Jesus Christ, first and for most. That’s likely the first thing he’d want anybody to know over and beyond anything he’s accomplished, or will accomplish in the sport of MMA. Still the fact remains that the Texas A&M grad is Legacy FC’s reigning, defending middleweight champion. And he’ll be defending that belt this Friday night when he takes on undefeated Alfonso Gonzales (5-0) at Legacy Fighting Championship 31.

Also a gym owner who’s invested plenty of himself in the sport, Bubba Bush runs the BVMMA facility in Bryan/College Station. It’s there where he teaches and trains in between fights, serving as a role model for the younger fighters under his tutelage. As a fighter, the 185 lbs. champ has spent his entire career under the Legacy FC banner and is extremely proud to represent Mick Maynard’s promotion as their champion:

“I’ve seen Legacy grow from its infancy, having fought in the second ever Lonestar Beatdown show in College Station (back in the early days). I’ve fought all of my fights for Mick and I think our entire fight scene is what it is because of this promotion. It’s a dream come true to represent Legacy as its champion. To have and retain a title in a huge regional promotion like this is something very few get to experience.”

As for Legacy FC 31, the proud Texan was originally scheduled to face Corpus Christi’s Roger Narvaez. That is before “Silverback” got the call to fight for Dana White in the UFC. Some fighters would have been miffed at their opponent (the challenger nonetheless) getting the call instead of themselves but Bush takes it all in stride. He’s happy to continue his career representing Legacy FC and the middleweight belt, but he also knows it’s a matter of time before he too might get ‘the call.’

“Winning is winning, and that’s the goal. The UFC watching doesn’t make me want to win more, it just makes it potentially more lucrative if I do. I’ll get the call to the UFC if and when God wills it. I think there is a higher purpose in everything we do here and it’s not for me to worry about, my job is Alfonso and trying to keep my winning streak alive.”

Speaking of his opponent Alfonso Gonzales is no late replacement pushover. He’s a standout fighter from another region out in the Pacific Northwest and there are those that say he’s an even tougher fight than the one Bubba had originally. Above and beyond that, regional pride is now at stake for the champion as well.

“I definitely don’t want to be the guy who let the belt travel out of Texas. But I don’t want to be the guy who let the belt leave College Station either.”

Gonzales may not be a household name here in Texas, but Bush is well aware of the potential threats his undefeated opponent poses to him and was extremely complimentary of Gonzales when describing his opponent to TXMMA.  “[He] is a stud from up in Washington State who has been rolling over the competition in that region. A solid all-around fighter with heavy hands, he has basically knocked out a few opponents with one punch power, but also has a submission and a few ground and pound wins to round him out.”

Back to Bubba, it’s important to note that he is one of the true good guys of this sport. That’s the prevailing opinion on him and his accomplishments are even more impressive when the fact that he is a type one diabetic is taken into consideration. He is a man of deep faith who believes God’s plan for him involved changing people’s lives through mixed martial arts, “I think fighting is unavoidably spiritual. The way I imagine combat is. You’re essentially fighting for your life (with the rules of the sport there to draw a line), which can be terrifying if you don’t know yourself. Jesus Christ has changed my life and had mercy on me as a sinner, giving me ultimate purpose and constantly pushing me to do something more worthwhile than serve only my own ends.”

Fighter Acknowledgements

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Prospect Watch: Bubba Bush

Photos by Mike Calimbas and Paul Erickson (Texas MMA Photographers)

  Top-Ranked Middleweight Ready To Show He’s Vasty Better Than His Record Indicates; Takes on Larry Crowe At Legacy FC 21

  Legacy Fighting Championship 21 (LFC 21) is fast approaching with the AXS TV-aired event set to take place at the Arena Theater in Houston, TX on July 19th.

As part of this card Texas MMA fans will get to see the return of Bubba Bush (5-2) a regional prospect who has the fighting skill and subsequent potential to make it to the championship level that is a lot brighter than his 5-2 record implies.

Fighting out of Brazos Valley Mixed Martial Arts (BVMMA) in College Station, Bubba has taken somewhat of an untraditional path to get to this point of his career. Unlike many others in his position, he didn’t methodically plan his ascent up the MMA charts right from the get go.

With a successful background wrestling in Virginia’s AAA division as a high school kid (he was once ranked third in the area’s 189 lbs. division and eventually made it to first while competing for Woodbridge) before moving to Texas, Bubba would try his hand in MMA way back in the early days of Legacy, back when it was known as Lonestar Beatdown in early 2007. He dominated that matchup but would not compete again for the next three years.

Sooner or later, the itch to compete came back for Bubba Bush and he wasted no time seeking the toughest tests he could be matched up with. In only his second fight as a pro he fought and beat seven-fight veteran Chris Spicer. That led to his epic showdown with Team Tooke’s Andrew Craig, who coincidentally went on to experience an amazing run of success culminating with his signing to the UFC where he fights Chris Leben this Saturday at UFC 162.

Looking back at that fight though and it was easy to see that both men, not just Craig, could fare well given the right breaks towards their UFC aspirations. Despite Craig’s 4-0 record going in, Bush would take the fight to his more experienced opponent, using his wrestling to ground him and pound him and make it a really close fight that could have gone either way had he not gassed and forced the ref to call a stoppage to the bout late in the fifth and final round. Call it a bad break, call it a learning experience, or call it a clean-up loss to a UFC-caliber opponent but the point is that, with that fight, Bubba Bush showed immense potential as to what he could do down the road.

He would follow up that defeat with two wins and three wins in his next four, with his lone blemish coming by way of disqualification against Artenas Young in a fight he had clear control of and was clearly finishing.

Nowadays Bubba is well on his way to his planned destiny, a far cry to ‘trying his hand’ at the sport back when he began in April 2007. He’s seeking out and regularly training with top-caliber training partners that can give him a taste of what it’s like in the big league, including former oppoent Andrew Craig along with other Texas-based UFC fighters like Tim Kennedy and Colton Smith. He’s also worked with other high-level individuals when it comes to coaching as well – seeking out guys like noted-trainer Saul Soliz and Jarrod Clontz in order to expand on his skill set beyond his grappling in preparation for a run at the top of the middleweight division.

As for Legacy FC 21 on July 19th, Bubba Bush will have Larry Crowe to deal with. At 6-2 and with a history of fighting at both heavyweight and light heavyweight before making the drop to middleweight, Crowe is as strong a physical specimen as they come regionally at middleweight. He’s nobody’s walk in the park and scored a spectacular TKO win over Matt Rogers in his last outing so with that that being said, he should provide as good a test as any to show where Bubba Bush is at right now with his MMA skill set and where he’s going in the near future – whether it be directly into Legacy FC title contention in his next bout or the UFC somewhere not so far down the road.

Make sure you tune in to watch Legacy FC 21 on the 19th because he may not be a fighter you want to miss.

  TXMMA Images – Documenting Bubba Bush’s Career

  April 27, 2007 – Bubba debuts with a first round TKO win over Jousha Strahan at LSBD 2

  July 31, 2010 – Bubba picks up his second win via third round TKO over Chris Spicer.

  April 9, 2011 – Bubba losses for the first time in his career to Andrew Craig.

  September 16, 2011 – Bubba rebounds with a unanimous decision over Josh Foster.

  February 24, 2012 – Bubba puts Patrick Hutton to sleep wiht a north-south choke in the first round.

  May 11, 2012 – Bush suffers his second career defeat, by disqualification (punches to the back of the head) versus Artenas Young.