One of the greatest championship fights ever
on UFC FIGHT PASS!
#LFA122(C) Charles Johnson via KO in Round 5
[ @LFAFighting
| ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ | ๐ฒ on
#UFCFIGHTPASS ] pic.twitter.com/SqdE9PVYrj
โ UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass)
January 22, 2022
Charles
Johnson may have fought inside the
Legacy Fighting Alliance cage for the last time as he defended
his flyweight title for the third time and in spectacular
fashion.
Johnson improved to 11-2 as he eventually wore down challenger
Carlos
Mota in what is easily an early candidate for Fight of the
Year. Mota (6-1) took the fight to the champ, applying insane
pressure and throwing punches and kicks virtually nonstop round
after round. Johnson obliged, standing both in the pocket and on
the outside with pinpoint kicks, jabs and hooks. But while the two
tore into each other with a torrid pace from the start, neither man
landed anything hard or clean until Johnson did so in the
fifth.
A slick right-left to the head rocked the Brazilian early in the
final frame and Johnson smelled blood. Mota had slowed down just a
pinch but once he was dazed by the left to the jaw, he couldnโt
recover. Johnson landed three more lefts to the head, switched to a
conventional stance and then dropped his foe with a right cross to
the jaw. The punch crumbled Mota, who collapsed onto his face and
knees, prompting referee Mike
England to intervene, ending the LFA
122 main event 48 seconds into the fifth.
After the war, Johnson and the LFA commentary team inside The
Factory at the District in St. Louis, Mo., suggested that his time
in the LFA is over and that the UFC is next.
Brazilian bomber made quick work of Brant Moore
a day after the American failed to make weight in their 167lb
catchweight battle. Estrazulas (13-5) was aggressive with punches
early but it was a left kick to the liver that spelled doom for
Moore. Estrazulas closed the gap as Moore (9-2) retreated once that
kick connected, and when he landed a hard left hook to the liver,
Moore collapsed. Estrazulas pounced, but Moore was already finished
and agonizing in the turtle position,
ending the co-main event in stellar fashion in just 68
seconds.
After going winless in three LFA fights, Brazilโs Glaucio
Eliziario finally got his hand raised when he out-dueled
Will
Starks over three grueling rounds. The two met in a 160lb
catchweight tussle and while Starks (7-3) tried to keep it a
tactical, technical affair, Eliziario brought the brawl to the
American. Eliziario (10-7) landed thudding leg kicks and badly
rocked his opponent with a vicious right elbow, cutting Starksโ
face wide open. In the end, two judges had it 29-28 and the third
saw it 30-27 for Eliziario, who walked away with a unanimous
decision win.
Sarek
Shields was far too much for fellow welterweight Jeremiah
Curtright to handle as โThe Berserkerโ scored multiple
takedowns and punched and elbowed him from on top. After mounting
and pounding on Curtright (4-3) for the duration of the second
frame, the ringside doctor deemed Curtright unable to continue in
between rounds two and three and waived it off. The TKO win allowed
Shields to improve to 3-0.
Jett
Shell (3-1) withstood a knee to the head and chest early in the
second to submit foe Dan
Moriarty. Shell tried an assortment of submissions in the
first, but when Moriarty (1-1) knocked him to the canvas with the
knee,
Shell simply wrapped him up in a heel hook and forced the tap.
The end came just 48 ticks into the second, ending the 130lb
catchweight battle.