CORTES-ACOSTA LANDS BIG!!!
Can he close it out?!?!#LFA129
pic.twitter.com/UL01IcBUWp— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass)
April 16, 2022
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It was rough going for Waldo
Cortes-Acosta in the main event of
LFA 129 inside Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake,
Minnesota, on Friday night, but he eventually scored a dramatic
knockout in the third round to become the first ever Dominican
champion in the organization’s history.
Thomas
Petersen was defending his
Legacy Fighting Alliance heavyweight title comfortably early on
as he took Cortes-Acosta down multiple times and hammered him with
punches to the head, arms and body. Even when the two were on their
feet, Peterson was landing the cleaner punches, only to have the
challenger talk trash and dare him to keep trying to hit him or
take him down. But as the fight wore on, Peterson’s gas tank
betrayed him and it allowed Cortes-Acosta to capitalize.
Peterson was gasping for air late in the third as he trudged
forward, and he walked directly into a perfect left hook, right
cross combo to the face. The punches buckled his knees and while
Peterson (5-1) tried to steer the ship, Cortes-Acosta unfurled
several follow-up punches until a final right to the head dropped
Peterson face-first onto the canvas. Referee Rob Madrigal
immediately waived it off, ending the brawl at 4:53 of the
third.
Featherweights Hyder Amil
and Devante
Sewell electrified the sellout crowd with a three-round war
that could have gone to either man in the co-main. Amil (6-0)
appeared to be on his way to a first-round TKO after he rocked
Sewell with several elbows to the head, but Sewell (9-7) weathered
the storm and began landing heavy punches in return. The two tore
into other down the stretch, but it was Amil who took home the win
via split decision with scores of 29-28 and 30-27, while a third
judge favored Sewell 29-28.
Tyus
White raised his pro ledger to 5-1 with a dominant performance
over fellow flyweight Jeff Jepsen
and took him out late in the first. Jepsen (6-4) shot in for a
single-leg takedown, but he slipped right into a counter brabo
choke. After White took the scramble to the ground, he locked in
the choke whilst sitting and scored the tap at the 4:44 mark.
Young middleweight prospect Dylan Budka
used his strength and clinch work to eventually take Tee Cummins
down in the second before subbing him. Cummins (4-2) defended the
takedown attempts multiple times until Budka (3-1) scooped him up
ala Matt
Hughes against Frank Trigg,
carried him across the cage and slammed him down in his own corner.
Budka eventually locked in the rear-naked choke and forced the tap
at the 3:11 mark of the frame.
Bantamweight Quang Le
improved to 4-0 with a unanimous decision win over Sam
Paneitz (2-2) to open the LFA 129 main card.