Muin
Gafurov only needs one.
The
Dana White’s Contender Series alum made a successful
Legacy Fighting Alliance debut, as he blew away Herbeth
Reis de Sousa with punches in the second round of their
LFA 134 headliner on Friday at the Bell County Expo Center in
Belton, Texas. Reis de Sousa (15-2, 0-1 LFA) met his end 1:56 into
Round 2.
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Gafurov (17-4, 1-0 LFA) stayed calm under duress. Reis de Sousa was
dogged in his pursuit of takedowns but more often than not came
away empty-handed. Gafurov decked the Constrictor Team
representative with a right hook late in the first round, pounced
with follow-up punches and advanced to the back before time
expired. The Kaizen MMA product reversed position out of a Reis de
Sousa takedown in the middle stanza, returned to his feet, floated
into open space and uncorked a devastating overhand right. The
Brazilian crashed to the canvas and did what he could to defend
himself with Gafurov in hot pursuit. However, a few more
standing-to-ground shots to the head had Reis de Sousa teetering on
the brink of consciousness and forced referee Joel Ojeda to
act.
The setback snapped Reis de Sousa’s five-fight winning streak.
Meanwhile, McSweeney Martial Arts export Milko Tucto
leaned on an indomitable competitive spirit in claiming a split
decision over former
Titan Fighting Championship titleholder Olivier
Murad in the three-round co-main event at 145 pounds. All three
cageside judges struck 29-28 scorecards, two of them siding with
Tucto (6-3, 1-0 LFA).
Murad (6-1, 0-1 LFA) handled his business in a dominant first
round, where he sprawled out of attempted takedowns, threatened
with a brabo choke and punished the Peruvian in the clinch with
foot stomps, knees and other close-range strikes. Tucto bent but
did not break. He responded in the second and third rounds, as he
got his takedown game in gear, frustrated the previously unbeaten
Murad and largely dictated the narrative. By the time it was over,
Tucto had piled up nearly six minutes of control time.
Finally, former LSU defensive end Jakori
Savage submitted Taylor
Escamilla with an armbar in the first round of their
heavyweight showcase. Escamilla (1-1, 0-1 LFA) bowed out 2:42 into
Round 1.
The imposing 6-foot-6 Savage (2-0, 2-0 LFA) weathered some early
adversity, withstood considerable punishment and eventually
isolated his counterpart’s left arm as they engaged one another on
the ground. Already in the belly-down position, he bent the limb
beyond its bounds and accepted Escamilla’s surrender.
In other action, Joseph
Camacho (3-0, 1-0 LFA) took a unanimous decision from Alden Coria
(5-2, 3-2 LFA), drawing 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 marks from the
cageside judges; Shane
Sobnosky (5-2, 2-0 LFA) forced a corner stoppage from Jared
McLoughlin (6-3, 1-1 LFA) in between the first and second
rounds of their middleweight scrap; Jordan
Harris (3-0, 1-0 LFA) laid claim to a unanimous decision—30-27,
30-27, 30-27—over Kevin
Fernandez (3-1, 2-1 LFA) in their three-round flyweight
encounter; Tanner
Marlow (4-0, 1-0 LFA) took care of Joel Guzman
(2-1, 0-1 LFA) with punches 2:10 into the second round of their
light heavyweight pairing; and Mateo
Gonzalez (3-0, 1-0 LFA) was awarded a technical knockout
against Cody
Rondeau (1-1, 0-1 LFA) when he prompted a doctor stoppage 3:06
into the second round of their bantamweight tilt.