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Legacy Fighting Championship 24 Preview and Predictions
By TXMMA Staff | Photos by Mike Calimbas (Texas MMA Photographer)
Legacy Fighting Championship 24 this Friday; Stack card set for Allen Event Center
ALLEN, TX, October 10, 2013 – After a few months wait, Legacy FC finally returns to the Allen Event Center north of downtown Dallas for Legacy Fighting Championship 24 this Friday night. The main card will be broadcast LIVE on AXS TV and featuring a clash on undefeated lightweights in Chris Feist taking on Carlos Diego Ferreira and also features two other top athletes turned MMA fighters in Holly Holm and Henry Cejudo along with a host of other top prospects looking to make their way up in the MMA world.
Check out the full card below then read on for our entire Legacy Fighting Championship 24 Fight Card Predictions featuring every matchup on Friday night’s card.
LFC 24 – Main Card (AXS TV)
155 lbs.: Chris Feist (8-0) vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira (7-0) 135 lbs.: Holly Holm (4-0) vs. Nikki Knudsen (2-1) 125 lbs.: Henry Cejudo (4-0) vs. Ryan Hollis (4-2) 185 lbs.: Charles Byrd (5-3) vs. Mike Jasper (7-0) 145 lbs.: Javier Obregon (6-6) vs. Damon Jackson (6-0) 135 lbs.: Ryan Benoit (6-1) vs. Cody Fuller (9-7)
LFC 24 – Local Undercard (untelevised)
135 lbs.: Eliazar Rodriguez (4-2) vs. Eli Tamez (5-0) 145 lbs.: Douglas Frey (10-11) vs. Hunter Tucker (6-1) 185 lbs.: Evert Gutierrez (0-1) vs. Evan Thompson (2-0) 125 lbs.: Matt Lozano (3-1) vs. Klayton Mai (5-0)
Legacy FC 24 Main Card Preview and Predictions
155 lbs.: Chris Feist (8-0) vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira (7-0)
Carlos Diego Ferreira
The main event at next week’s Legacy Fighting Championship 24 event set for the Allen Events Center in North Dallas on October 11th pits undefeated lightweights against each other in DFW resident Chris Feist (8-0) taking on South Texas based Carlos Diego Ferreira. The matchup is a pivotal one in the lightweight division with the winner slotted to take on current champion Jorge Patino should things go according to plan. The fact that both these guys are bonafide UFC prospects only adds to the magnitude of the bout as well.
Stylistically they’re both grapplers looking to take their game to the next level, showing clearly improved striking every time they’ve taken the cage. Be that is it may they both definitely favor the submission, finishing well over half their fights respectively inside the distance by sub. We think Ferreira definitely has the advantage in that area but Feist is no slouch and wrestles with guys like Johny Hendricks and Chas Skelly all day long at Team Takedown. Meanwhile, CDF has been competing damn near every weekend and recently made the trek out to San Diego to train with Andre Galvao and crew over at Atos so that shows he’s taking this fight as seriously as ever as well. Tough fight to call in this one and could literally be anybody’s ballgame on the feet but we’re going with CDF. After beating Carlo Prater and surviving that test vs. Danny Salinas earlier this year he’s just too hard to pick against right now.
Prediction – Carlos Diego Ferreira over Chris Feist by unanimous decision
125 lbs.: Henry Cejudo (4-0) vs. Ryan Hollis (4-2)
Ryan Hollis
In arguably the most anticipated Legacy fighter debut for quite some time (maybe ever), 2008 US Olympic Gold Medalist Henry Cejudo will be taking on Cleveland, TX based journeyman Ryan “Riptide” Hollis.
As a freestyle wrestler who’s competed for the U.S. national team and wrestled all his life, Henry Cejudo has certainly shown he’s at the pinnacle of athletics when it comes to heart, conditioning and dedication. He’s now looking to translate that into success in the upper echelon of the MMA world after four wins prepping on the regional circuit. The word on him is that he’s not as one-dimensional wrestler at this point of his career as many are this early on in their careers. He’ll look to prove that against Hollis, who will be his most experienced opponent yet.
Fighting out of Cleveland, TX, Ryan Hollis will be headed into this bout with the mindset that he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Looking at his background, he has most everything going against him in this fight. By that we mean that he’s not an Olympic Gold Medalist nor is he training out of a big camp. And although he’s got two more fights on his record than his opponent, he’s also got far less experience when it comes to top-level sports experience and all the preparation that comes with it – mentally and physically. What he does have is a scrapper’s attitude, length, and some decent BJJ to back it up if the fight hits the ground. Will all that be enough against American Wrestling’s 2008 golden boy?
Highly unlikely.
Prediction – Henry Cejudo over Ryan Hollis by TKO, RD2
135 lbs.: Holly Holm (4-0) vs. Nikki Knudsen (2-1)
Holly Holm
Former undisputed boxing champion Holly Holm heads into her second fight under the Legacy FC banner riding the wave of her vicious KO win over Alanna Jones in Houston this past July. She was originally supposed to face one-time Cyborg conqueror Erica Paes before the Brazilian had to bow out to injury and was replaced by Alaskan Nikki Knudsen.
Given her skill level and athleticism it probably didn’t matter who Holm faced in Dallas. She’d come in as the favorite over anyone not signed into Invicta or the UFC right now and would beat plenty of those fighters as well. Knudson has never fought outside of Alaska and will likely be overwhelmed in this one as the next victim on Holly’s ascent up the women’s MMA rankings.
Prediction – Holly Holm over Nikki Kudsen by KO, RD1
145 lbs.: Javier Obregon (6-6) vs. Damon Jackson (6-0)
Octagon MMA’s Damon Jackson heads into this bout looking to keep his undefeated streak intact following some impressive wins over Keith Miner and Luis Luna in his last two bouts. Meanwhile Javier Obregon will be looking to bounce back from his last fight, a decision loss to Jamal Parks in Oklahoma’s C3 Fights earlier this summer.
Looking at these combatants it’s obvious that both are game fighters. Javier in particular has a lot of experience with 12 pro fights to go along with two as an amateur. Be that as it may and with the exception of a few, he hasn’t faced many guys quite like Jackson. Meanwhile, Damon hasn’t exactly faced the crème de la crème as a pro either but that win over Luna at 24/7 was particularly impressive.
Stylistically both guys seem to favor submissions and don’t like to go to the scorecards but Damon should prove to be the stronger of the two when it comes to wrestling. That skill set should carry him to victory in this one.
Prediction – Damon Jackson over Javier Obregon by submission, RD2.
185 lbs.: Charles Byrd (5-3) vs. Mike Jasper (7-0)
A member of Bàs Rutten’s Elite MMA Fight Team, Mike Jasper makes his Legacy FC debut in this one and should definitely be a prospect to watch considering his undefeated six-fight winning streak since turning pro in 2011. He’ll be welcomed into the organization by Saekson Janjira trained Charles Byrd so this should be a very fan-friendly contest of both fighters stay true to form and turn this one into a kickboxing match.
Hard one to predict considering we haven’t seen much of Jasper but we do know Charles Byrd hasn’t fought since last December and will be looking to erase the memory of his quick defeat to Derrick Krantz in his last time out. Matchup-wise this might be what he wants in terms of getting to face another striker but it remains to be seen if he can overcome and win out over an undefeated top prospect like his opponent.
Prediction – Mike Jasper over Charles Byrd by TKO, RD2
135 lbs.: Ryan Benoit (6-1) vs. Cody Fuller (9-7)
This fight must sting just a little bit for Ryan Benoit if only because he was only supposed to face UFC vet Damacio Page in the main event before the latter was forced to pull due to injury. In his place steps Oklahoma native Cody Fuller, a veteran as well with 16 fights but with all of them on the local/regional circuit. Cody Fuller is a different type of opponent than Damacio Page would have been. He’s more of a wrestler than a dangerous striker so Benoit will definitely have to approach this fight a little differently but it’s a good thing he has the skill set to do so. Ryan is every bit the wrestler as he is a striker. He’s also coming off the biggest fight of his career versus Anthony Birchak at MFC and even though he lost that fight, he says he’s learned some valuable lessons and should be eager to get back to his winning ways in this one.
Prediction – Ryan Benoit over Cody Fuller by submission, RD2
Legacy FC 24 Undercard Preview and Predictions
135 lbs.: Eliazar Rodriguez (4-2) vs. Eli Tamez (5-0)
This could be one of the most exciting fights of the night between these two DFW based fighters. Eli is coming into this fight having won five in a row to start his pro career while Eliazar just recently had a four-fight winning streak snapped fighting out of state at Jackson’s MMA this past summer.
Tough fight to all and it could be anybody’s ballgame with both fighters relatively evenly matched but we’ll go with the undefeated fighter to maintain his momentum in this one.
Prediction – Eli Tamez over Eliazar Rodriguez by majority decision.
145 lbs.: Douglas Frey (10-11) vs. Hunter Tucker (6-1)
Jackson MMA’s Hunter Tucker suffered a stinging defeat in his last fight and first with Legacy, losing by first round submission to current title contender Kevin Aguilar. He’ll be looking to rebound in this one against Mohler MMA’s Douglas Frey, a longtime Texas MMA vet that has fallen on some tough times over the last few years with a string of losses. Empirical evidence is highly against the latter in this bout and Hunter Tucker should resume his winning ways by finishing this one inside the distance.
Prediction – Hunter Tucker over Douglas Frey by submission, RD2.
185 lbs.: Evert Gutierrez (0-1) vs. Evan Thompson (2-0)
RCJ Machado’s Evan Thompson has won impressively in his last two fights, most recently dispatching of Angelus McFarlane in Legacy’s last Dallas outing earlier this year. This time around he’ll take on the latter’s former teammate in Evert Gutierrez. That fight with McFarlane was competitive early for Thompson but Evert is a much different fighter, more dynamic on his feet and significantly better technically on the ground as a BJJ brown belt. His 0-1 record doesn’t speak much to any of that and he’ll be coming into this one as somewhat of unknown quantity compared to Thompson who had over ten amateur fights in addition to his two as pro. No doubt he’ll be well prepared by his father Ray Thompson and Carlos Machado but we’re going with Gutierrez as the favorite in this one.
Prediction – Evert Gutierrez over Evan Thompson by unanimous decision.
125 lbs.: Matt Lozano (3-1) vs. Klayton Mai (5-0)
This bout is one of our ‘Fight of the Night’ contenders and for good reason as both of these guys like to finish fights. Klayton Mai has proven his mettle over his last few fights and is a mentally strong scrapper. At the same time Matt Lozano didn’t move all the way down from Lancaster, PA to train with Chris Brennan and his crew of high-level coaches to lose. This one should be a barnburner and it’s anybody’s ballgame.
Prediction – Pick-em
