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 LEGACY! 39 - Available on PPV 01.15.16 Belle Centre - Montreal
Event Preview prepared by: Taylor Powell (107803)
LEGACY! 39 PRELIMS
MIDDLEWEIGHT: Artem Irhin (6-5) vs Arthur Halo (11-4)
WELTERWEIGHT: Uri Haber (8-1-1) vs Carney Duffy (10-8)
WELTERWEIGHT: Hiroshimo Sakamoto (8-5-1) vs Pekka Kindmark (11-4)
MIDDLEWEIGHT: John Altare (11-5) vs Kabal Labak (12-6-1)
WELTERWEIGHT: Better Dead (16-12) vs Randall Wickam (11-5-1)
MAIN CARD
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Brian Pereira (10-7-1) vs Humphrey Baker (13-5)
After closing his time in Imperial as the champion at 205 pounds with a 2nd round TKO of Johny Clattenburg, Humphrey Baker entered LEGACY! as a definite contender for the title. In his debut fight, Johny Clattenburg gave Baker a dose of his own medicine as he knocked him out in the 2nd round. Brian Pereira won his debut fight last time out, but it was against a guy that probably won’t be around much longer in the promotion. At 0-2-1, Agustin Trujillo is dangerously close to a pink slip and while Pereira’s 3rd round TKO of him was a good thing, he still has a lot to prove in this fight against Humphrey Baker. Baker represents the biggest challenge in his career and a win will give him instant credibility in the division. Stylistically, Baker provides a stout challenge on the feet with his powerful boxing and Pereira’s submission game could pose issues for Baker, but he has never been tapped in his career. This is your classic striker versus grappler fight so it will come down to who gets the fight where they are comfortable at.
WELTERWEIGHT: Dre Still (10-3) vs George Pedro (13-6-1)
After failing to capitalize on a title shot against Arlington Beech, Dre Still will start his quest for a title shot once again. Still was a dominant champion at INY and also challenged unsuccessfully for the title in Imperial. A black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Still is incredibly dangerous on the ground with 6 of his 10 wins coming by way of submission. Another interesting note is that Still has never lost in a non-title fight in his young career. After a long time in Imperial, George Pedro finally got a title shot in his last fight and ended up with a dead even draw from the judges against Chief Tappenahomma. Pedro has proved to be very durable in his career as he’s only been finished once in his 20 fight career and that was by submission. Pedro has a much better chance in this fight if it stays standing, so it will be critical for his takedown defense to be on point against such a dangerous grappler. Still will have to mind his p’s and q’s on the feet because of the power that George Pedro brings with his striking. This should be a very entertaining fight between 2 guys who were title contenders not long ago.
MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT: © Cid Strife (14-1) vs Rupert Blasts (8-0)
At just 25 years old, Cid Strife has solidified himself as one of the top middleweights in MMA. Strife is 14-1 in his career that includes 10 title fights. His only loss was a stoppage due to a cut against Chief Tappenahomma, but he would go on to reclaim the Imperial title in his next fight against Manolito Damhuis. Strife is an extremely durable striker who has only been finished once in 15 fights. He has several decision wins on his resume against top quality competition that show he doesn’t have to just knock guys out. Rupert Blasts has come out of nowhere to quickly place himself in the title picture. His only two fights inside a legitimate organization were wins in the LEGACY! promotion and he remains unbeaten overall at 8-0. Blasts is a striker as well and it hasn’t mattered so far if it’s on the feet or the clinch. If Blasts were to pull off a win in this fight, it may go down as one of the biggest upsets in promotion history. Blasts is certainly very talented, but he doesn’t have the pedigree of even most of the title contenders behind him.
SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT: Culver Crimson (10-2) vs Eeazy E (25-6)
Where would Culver Crimson be right now if Nick Fjera didn’t exist? The answer is he would be the champion and main eventing this card, instead of fighting in the co-main event. Crimson is 6-0 inside the promotion and even claimed the 265+ pound title at one point. He went on to lose that title to Nick Fjera in his first title defense by submission though. After a couple of impressive wins, he was granted a rematch against Fjera. This time the fight hit the scorecards and Fjera won a razor sharp 48-47 decision win. One would expect to see these guys fight again and fulfill the trilogy, but Crimson has to climb the ladder again and it starts with Eeazy E. E dominated the now defunct Las Vegas Prizefighting organization and is currently riding a 10 fight winning streak, all of which came by knockout. He isn’t a very technical striker, but E has some impressive power. We’ll see if that power will translate over in the much tougher LEGACY! promotion in this fight.
SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT: © Nick Fjera (13-2-1) vs Ji Lu (17-4)
Nick Fjera has dominated this division since the day he stepped foot in it, but with Stu Grimson signing and winning his first two fights in the promotion, one has to wonder if Fjera have Grimson in the back of his mind. Grimson is the only man to defeat Fjera in his career and did so twice by completely knocking him out and taking his title. If Fjera’s fight isn’t all the way in this fight, he’ll more than likely be dropped by Ji Lu. Lu was a former champion in Imperial and has started his stay in LEGACY! with two quick finishes by knockout. Lu is almost exclusively a boxer, but he does have ability in the clinch to dirty box as well. It’ll be important for him to keep this fight standing because few guys in MMA are better than Nick Fjera on the ground. Fjera owns 9 of his 13 wins by submission and is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so it will be interesting to see if Lu just tries to avoid going to the ground at all costs.
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