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 LEGACY! 3 Event Preview
Prepared by Russ T. Shackleford
Legacy! welcomes mixed martial arts fans around the world back to the Expo in beautiful Montreal. Twenty fighters will throw it all on the line and risk life and limb as they try to make their marks early and position themselves nicely for title shots. They come in search of money, fame, glory, or a fair fight and, there’s a few who are just here only the chance to punch someone in the face. A near sold out house is expected after the electric atmosphere 5,841 lucky fans experienced in Legacy! 2, an event that secured Legacy’s spot in the top 20 fight organizations in the world with an event rating of 278.67. Building upon that success we present another spectacle that every MManiac and Z list celebrities will be flocking to Saturday evening. How do you improve upon an event that already averages 5 knockouts? Pit striker vs. striker! The main event will feature two of mixed martial arts more experienced veterans as they hop back into the limelight for a matchup that promises to be entertaining. Our co-main event has been a highly anticipated match up for so long that many forgot about it. The always productive Louie De Palma never forgets to remember and has finally made the match up between EVO KT tournament champions Malvo and Bronson. Set your spoiler alerts for tomorrow boys because there will be plenty of good ole’ fashioned bloody, bone on bone, smash mouth, slug fests Saturday the 25th!
Main Event Fidel Duberry vs. Harlen Crowe 265lbs Division
Two of the most elite Heavyweight strikers will square off in the cage, trying to pound each other to a bloody pulp in Legacy! 3’s main event. After a recent trip to Barbados manager Scott Davies encountered Fidel Duberry seven years after his last professional fight. Duberry was repairing a sailboat and living in a dingy hut, five or eight drinks later and the two were on a jet bound to Los Angeles. Since returning Duberry has been high flying with three wins and has proven to still have what it takes to be a contender after climbing back up the P4P rankings to 181st. Fidel has overcome strife numerous times a career that saw him rise through the ranks at Gramma and earn the rare distinction of becoming the top ranked super heavyweight fighter in the world with 3 successful title defenses and a ridiculous 9 win streak at the start of his career. Harlen “Cannonball” Crowe grew up lean and strong from a life of farming in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Although Harlen emits an aura of calm and humility, something snaps and he becomes a different beast upon stepping into the cage. Harlen has been a highly coveted prospect since the start and earned 10 wins amidst a tough schedule in which he captured AD rising star’s super heavyweight belt and defended it twice. Priorities changed to simpler things and Crowe stopped winning fights consistently. After a brief hiatus of a year he returned to professional fighting but, his heart wasn’t in the fight. Faced with some mismanagement Crowe faced 3 defeats in a row, losing morale and fans along the way. Since then Crowe has fought harder than ever to prove to the world that he has what it takes to be the best. That effort paid off in his most recent fight where he captured REVO’s Heavyweight title. Harlen, the 330th P4P fighter will be looking to make his mark against the veteran Duberry who is 6 years the elder. Fidel is a well rounded fighter who loves to knock out opponents or win trying, proving this time and time again with the 16 wins by TKO, 3 via KO and, 6 wins by way of decision. Harlen Crowe has shown his depth recently by shocking spectators with his first ever submission win after 18 career TKO’s, 5 KO’s and, 4 unanimous decisions. This victory silenced skeptics and proved that he’s just as dangerous on the ground. Harlen will be very cautious about standing up against Fidel knowing that he could be set to the canvas by any punch. He’ll be very relaxed and waiting for the opportunity to wind his opponent or work a sneaky takedown so he can get horizontal where the fight is a bit more even. Once they’re on the ground, Fidel will seek to control and ground and pound a Harlen who has shown that he can transition rather well. Crowe will undoubtedly capitalize on the grappling training that led up to his last victory and Harlen will seek to counter that by stuffing takedowns and keeping the fight in the vertical.
Co-main event Lorne Malvo vs. Charles Bronson 155lbs Division
In legacy 3’s co-main event two fighters who were forged in the fire of EVO’s creation KT tournament will look to prove themselves against one another in this highly anticipated matchup. Lorne Malvo walked away from EVO with the 135lbs title while, Charles Bronson captured the 185lbs title and the similarities don’t end there. Neither of these fighters have ever been knocked out or even rocked in their careers and have proven that they’re excellent MMA fighters as well as avid Kickboxers. Hailing from St. Paul, Lorne Malvo has acquired a reputation as a manipulative sadist albeit, the humorous and likable type. Although Malvo has proven he can take and block shots with some of the best, he’s rather keen on dealing them out instead. Malvo has showcased some excellent striking offense and defense throughout a career that began with a huge burst of momentum, fueling a 10 win streak, 6 of which were TKO’s. In this time period he was able to deal Alexsandro De Souza his only defeat to date and capture CBK’s welterweight title before surrendering it back to De Souza. He left the closing Immortals in search of new people to punch. Upon making it to Legacy Lorne made his intentions clear about being a contender by beating Reyki Rhino to a pulp and earning a decisive victory in Legacy! 1. Since a mysterious sunrise silhouetted appearance on horseback Bronson, has had 8 professional fights and 8 wins, 6 of which can be credited to strikes. Seemingly born out of thin air and hailing from parts unknown, Bronson is a humble man who cares not about the money but, relishes a duel against a worthy opponent. Walking into the ring, he plays a somber song on the signature harmonica that lent him the nickname “The Harmonica” Rumor has it that, this particular melancholy tune is played to give his victims the feeling that they are walking to the gallows. After quickly dispatching a foe Bronson thanks the fans for their support and rides off on a horse into the sunset. Little is known of Bronson other than the tale of how he began work in a coal mine at the ripe old age of 10 when his father died of the black lung. In spite of the graying hair and attire straight out of the 1800’s, numerous physicals have in fact proven that Charles Bronson is 23 years old. Both of these fighters have proven that they aren’t likely to run out of gas, even if this were a 25 minute battle like the ones they’ve faced in the past. Bronson has cut a significant amount of weight since his debut at 195lbs and had no problems dropping 15 pounds to take this fight with Malvo. Lorne Malvo has been slowly gaining up to 155lbs and has proven he can carry the extra weight very well. Both fighters have near identical reach with Malvo standing 1cm taller. Bronson holds an advantage on the ground but, he’s a gentleman and will likely stay true to that Kickboxing lineage. Malvo has never had the misfortune of being cut and personally prefers to cut people instead and while Bronson isn’t exactly what I’d call a bleeder, he did receive a cut that was cause for concern a few matches ago. Lorne, being the sadist that he is, will look to see if maybe he can open that cut back up and bleed Charles out of the match. This one will be a war, with both combatants hoping to pop the other’s cherry. In this battle of the chins
Terrell Grant vs Constantine Kermit 185lbs Division
Returning to Legacy! after their participation in our inaugural event two New Yorkers will look to utilize their strengths against each others weaknesses. Terrell Grant has been referred to as the giant throughout life and grew up watching “professional wrestling.” That changed as an adult when he began watching real fighters and became bent on making it into the cage. As a grappling fan, Grant was determined to become a submission specialist, in spite of being called lanky numerous times. Since that initial training he has racked up 10 submission victories 4 of which were Kimuras, a move learned from watching old black and white films of Masahiko Kimura. Grant dealt a resounding defeat to RocknRolla via Americana just seconds inside the first round of our inaugural event. Grant isn’t satisfied with just the one win will be looking to bring the strange win one, loss one streak to an end tonight. Grant while styling himself a submission specialist is an extremely well rounded fighter and his punching has been described as containing “ the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper... “ Constantine Kermit lies on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and the similarities between these two end at New York. Kermit while tall, isn’t exactly “too tall” and Grant holds the privilege of a 8 cm height advantage. While growing up in New York Kermit was often picked on due to his weight, size and after a while, the other kids knew he wouldn’t fight back. School kids would bully Kermit and call him the frog. While still a boy his mother told him “Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.” after finishing the short lecture Ms.Kermit presented her son with a Kermit the frog beanie, days before her death. Kermit embraced his new outlook and was impervious to the insults of the other children. One day however Kermit snapped. He had fallen asleep in class and awoke to find that a group of boys had drawn “X’s” over the eyes on his beloved beanie, one of the few things he had left to remember his mom by. Four punches later and winded Kermit stood over the unconscious boys that had defaced the beanie. After that, noone messed with the boy they now called the “Killer Frog” who had begun taking Boxing and Muay Thai. Since then he has been on a knockout spree, racking up 6 wins in that fashion as well as acquiring 2 losses from knockouts himself. One of which took place in our inaugural event where Kermit gave a pummeling to Frank Barbosa and received a worse one in return. Grant is the much more well rounded fighter here and has shown that he can be a huge threat whilst on his feet as well as the canvas. Kermit is no slouch either though but, he will be more intent on covering up and defending a recently broken nose and cut that has been plaguing fights for a while. Grant has been knocked out 3 times in his career and will be looking to avoid taking another. Constantine has also seen his fair share of abuse and has been knocked out twice in his career and also deals with a few cuts. He likes to wear his opponent quickly and conserve his own energy for scoring the takedown and getting the submission near the end of the 1st round. Grant will have trouble wearing down Kermit and will be in danger if tries to go to the head as well. He certainly has the power to get to Kermit’s chin but, a KO isn’t what he desires here and he risks opening a cut or receiving one that might make grappling a little more slippery. Kermit has excellent cardio and employs it not to fight the long fight but, instead to drop large volleys of headshots and leg kicks when he faces a grappler. Don’t expect that change tonigh,. Kermit could put up a good fight on the ground but, has skills that have never been proven and he hasn’t shown much desire to do so.
Kim II Sung vs. Sam Hall 170lbs Division
Everyone’s favorite depraved dictator Kim II Sung will return to Legacy to take on Sam Hall, who is under new management and hoping that this fight will get his career back on track. Sung has the advantage of being two year older than Sam. It’s been said by certain North Korean officials that Sung’s birth was prophesized by a swallow and while taking his first breath one of the harshest winters in history turned to spring instantly. As the clouds broke they produced the world’s first triple rainbow and a new star appeared in the sky that outshone the rest. After a little digging I discovered that Sung was actually born in Russia during the winter... it stayed winter. For shits and giggles, I asked Sam if he had any extraordinary claims about his own birth. Laughing, he replied “Well, I was conceived in the back of V-dubya bug after a pub crawl, My fadder was a ratter laaarge fella and me Ma wasn’t too small neither. That they were able to get it on back there, now THAT’S extraordinary” Stating afterwards that isn’t worried about Sung being older at all. Both fighters began their careers around the same time. In spite of claims that he was able to force Chuck Norris to submit while only 8 years old, Sung made his MMA debut at 18. Sam Hall on the other hand has been training since 16 and took his first fight at 17. This gave him a huge headstart over other competitors and helped him capture 7 wins in LFC’s Natural Selection tournament. He captured the title in the process but, lost it immediately, as well motivation and, some fansl. Things haven’t been easy amidst a tough schedule and a weak chin that have only allowed one win out of 5 fights. Hall is intent on putting an end to this funk with the help of a new manager, Chris Frazer. Hall has come a long way since his debut as a boxer and has gained a boost of confidence and some easy sleep with the knowledge that he holds an overall advantage over Sung in all disciplines but one, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Sung is a specialist and focuses very intently on BJJ and aspires one day to claim the ultimate honor for his mythical prowess, The red belt. Sung is very proud of his black belt and ability to submit opponents but, was unable to finish Erik Kramer in Legacy! 2 and walked away with a unanimous decision victory. Hall will certainly try to keep this fight standing and utilize that slight height advantage by pawing away at Kim from the outside. He will be a bit unpredictable under a different manager but, we’re sure to see plenty of leg kicks and body shots. Sam will no doubt try to stuff as many takedowns as possible and avoid the clinch for the same reason but, will have a hard time against one of Sung’s specialties. Sam has had good wrestling his whole career but hasn’t had much experience on the ground and when the fight makes it’s way there we’ll see his superior wrestling tested against a formidable opponent. Kim could stand toe to toe and box Hall for a time but, he will look to recover from that unanimous decision victory and get a quick submission out of his lankier opponent. This fight is sure to be a quick one as the generalist Sam Hall looks for redemption against the specialist Kim II Sung.
Liam Davidson vs. Matt Kroblur 185lbs Division
Liam Davidson looks to begin his career in Legacy! by taking on the 4-1 up and comer Matt Kroblur who might’ve fought his way to a title if Immortals hadn’t closed it’s doors. Matt suffered his first ever defeat at the hands of Edinger Nucleus in a hard fought split decision in the inaugural event. He came into the fight lacking confidence which was quickly compounded when he was on the receiving end of some punishing blows. He gladly returned these strikes to sender but, it took an impact on his energy immediately and made the fight much more difficult. Nucleus was able to land punches a bit more accurately and Kroblur’s plan to take the fight to the ground fell apart. This caused a miscalculation in how well he was doing in points and led to a defeat. Since that day Klobur has spent all his waking hours in the gym or studying film, in an all out effort to improve his skills. He has cut a lot of weight since a debut at 241 lbs and feels a lot more confident at 185 lbs where he is undefeated. Liam on the other hand has been slowly packing on weight throughout his career and tends to be the smaller fighter in most bouts. His opponents often hold 10+lbs weight advantages over him and in the face of such adversity Davidson has never balked, managing to remain undefeated at 185 lbs as well. The size of the man standing across the cage from Davidson never bothered him and he learned to be aggressive and use his opponent’s height and weight against them. The strategy has proven effective with five of Davidson’s seven wins ending in submission in the first round. He’ll will come into this one with a record of 7-2, almost twice as many fights as Kroblur. Davidson loves to finish quickly and has only spent 56 minutes in the cage, with his matches averaging only 6 minutes and 12 seconds. It should come as no surprise that the less aggressive Kroblur has spent 58 minutes in the cage and averaged 11 and a half minutes in his fights. A bit conservative by nature, it’s obvious that Matt will be looking to control the pace of this fight and expend energy on his own terms. Davidson will be careful while standing and though he has come into all of his fights with the intention of submitting his opponent. It’s likely to witness a completely different gameplan where he takes on the role of a brawl and sprawler and stays on the outside landing plenty of body punches to sap Kroblur’s energy. Don’t be too surprised to see these fighters spending a good deal of time on the canvas. Kroblur will likely look for a takedown early and try to transition into a position where he can rain down strikes on his foe. Davidson will be very wary of Kroblur’s superior wrestling and and still look for any openings in which he could force a submission when they make their way to the ground.
Well thats all we have time for on our main card but here is a run down on the remaining fights on the Preliminary portion of the evening:
265 lbs Frank Barbosa v Jojiro Yamanaka
170 lbs George Palmer v Adryan Preuss
265 lbs Anton Pavlovich v The RocknRolla
155 lbs Little Hardon v Reyki Rhino
155 lbs Gerry Khan v Mac McNult
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