OZZY DIAZ IS THE NEW MIDDLEWEIGHT
CHAMPION!!!!#LFA127
pic.twitter.com/2UbTecahUl— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass)
March 26, 2022
The
Legacy Fighting Alliance crowned a new middleweight champion in
the main event of LFA
127.
Competing for the vacant title in a classic striker versus grappler
match were the hard-hitting Osman Diaz
and Brazilian submission specialist Bruno
Assis. The striking difference was demonstrated early with Diaz
(7-1) flooring Assis (12-6) and then wisely not following him to
the floor. A second knockdown would come late in the round with
another flurry of punches ending the fight right before the round
came to an end. Diaz officially claimed the championship at 4:53 of
Round 1.
Featherweights Chase
Gibson and Javier
Garcia both had great moments in the back-and-forth co-main
event. The first round would see each fighter gain back control and
threaten with chokes, but it was Gibson (11-5) that ended the frame
on top. Round 2 and 3 would be more of the same with both mixed
martial artists taking control on the ground at different points,
but Garcia (8-5) being slightly outworked. After three rounds of
action, Gibson took home a unanimous decision with scores of 30-27,
29-28 and 29-28 in his favor.
Jose
Cleiton de Melo Jr. made a memorable LFA debut. Melo Jr. (11-5)
showed off his diverse striking game throughout the opening minutes
and then floored Tommy Aaron
with a left hook.
Several hammerfists later left Aaron (9-7) completely limp. The
stoppage came at 1:37 of Round 1.
A 130-pound catchweight fight next between Karlee
Pangilinan and Wascar Cruz
featured plenty of action but didn’t last long. Both fighters came
out swinging with Pangilinan (6-2) hurting Cruz (12-9) several
times with punches and a flying knee. However, Cruz
would land a crucial takedown that led to a rear-naked choke.
The tap came at 2:25 of Round 1.
A contest between bantamweight prospects Josh Wang
Kim and Arnold
Jimenez ended with plenty of drama. The bout started with
enjoyable back-and-forth grappling exchanges that saw Kim (4-1)
lock in an armbar that Jimenez (8-2) countered with two slams. The
bout ended just 55 seconds into Round 3 after Kim landed several
illegal elbows that landed on the back of the head of Jimenez.
Referee Frank Trigg
would disqualify the formerly undefeated fighter, but only after
Jimenez popped up off the ground and tried to run toward his
opponent, having to be restrained by the UFC veteran.
Wrong ref for that one.#LFA127
pic.twitter.com/xssvb7yWFF— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass)
March 26, 2022
The LFA 127 main card kicked off with a women’s strawweight bout
between Jasmine
Pouncy and Giovanna
Canuto. After securing a quick takedown, Canuto (3-0)
secured a rear-naked choke to stay undefeated. Pouncy (1-1)
tapped at the 2:28 mark.
In preliminary action, Whittany
Pyles (3-4) took a unanimous decision over Lisa
Mauldin (4-3); Luis
Kenneth Schwenke (2-0) picked up a TKO win over Diego
Vazquez (0-1) after just 2:55 of action; Riley
Wiseman (2-0) secured a second-round rear-naked choke on
Bryen
Dao (0-1) at the 1:36 mark; and Elijah
Leggett (1-0) won a unanimous decision over Chris
Hernandez (1-1).