HYDER AMIL WITH THE COMEBACK WIN!!!!#LFA137
pic.twitter.com/mIeuRVfTWe— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass)
July 30, 2022
Hyder
Amil looks like a significant problem for the rest of the
Legacy Fighting Alliance featherweight division, so long as
another organization does not call his number sooner.
The undefeated Gilbert
Melendez protégé cut down Chase
Gibson with punches in the second round of their LFA
137 headliner on Friday at the Commerce Casino in Commerce,
California. Amil (7-0, 3-0 LFA) brought it to a close 11 seconds
into Round 2, delivering his second finish in three outings with
the Ed Soares-led promotion.
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A back-and-forth first round was marked by wild swings in momentum.
Amil twice tripped his opponent to the mat after pinning kicks to
his body. However, Gibson made the more convincing argument, as he
executed a takedown, progressed to the back, secured position with
a body triangle and later threatened with a standing rear-naked
choke. Amil withstood his serious brush with adversity, pushed the
bout to a second round and capitalized on the opportunity. He
backed Gibson to the fence and let fly with a hellacious
multi-punch burst, leveling the California Mixed Martial Arts
product with a searing right hook. Gibson’s legs folded underneath
him, and though he appeared to regain consciousness as soon as he
hit the canvas, a few follow-up punches led referee Frank Trigg to
intervene.
In the bantamweight co-main event, Upstate Karate representative
John
Sweeney outstruck Ricardo
Dias to a split decision across three rounds at 135 pounds. All
three cageside judges scored it 29-28, two of them siding with
Sweeney (11-3, 3-0 LFA).
Dias (10-6, 2-2 LFA) was effective in spurts but struggled to
establish a rhythm. Sweeney switched stances seamlessly, fired off
leg kicks, countered at opportune times and leaned heavily on his
hands. He resorted to taunting in a clear effort to draw Dias out
of his shell and force a mistake. The
Kings MMA-trained Brazilian ignored the shenanigans and did his
best work in Round 3, where he upped his output, dropped an
off-balance Sweeney with a right hand and fished for a heel hook.
However, he never truly turned a corner. Sweeny powered into mount
in the closing seconds of the match, flurried with ground-and-pound
and settled for the decision.
The 27-year-old Sweeny has strung together five straight wins since
his July 2020 technical knockout loss to current
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight Cody
Durden.
Meanwhile, former King of
the Cage champion Darren Smith
Jr. put away the favored Jacob
Rosales with punches in the second round of their catchweight
attraction at 160 pounds. Smith (18-12, 1-0 LFA) drew the curtain
3:56 into Round 2.
Rosales (13-8, 2-3 LFA) rolled the dice, engaged an experienced
short-notice replacement in a firefight and paid a steep price.
Smith rocked the
Dana White’s Contender Series alum with a sweeping right hook
in the second round, gave chase with follow-up punches and pinned
him to the fence. Rosales retreated to his back but found no refuge
there. Smith sensed the end was near, hit the accelerator and
unleashed a burst of hammerfists to prompt the stoppage.
Smith, 35, will enter his next assignment on the strength of
back-to-back victories.
Elsewhere, California Mixed Martial Arts prospect Jean-Paul
Lebosnoyani submitted the previously unbeaten Caleb Hall
with a scarf hold armlock in the first round of their lightweight
feature. Hall (4-1, 0-1 LFA)—who missed weight for the match by
more than five pounds—conceded defeat 1:21 into Round 1.
Lebosnoyani (5-1, 4-0 LFA) cut loose with a flying knee at the
start, crashed down on an attempted guillotine and transitioned to
multiple chokes before settling in side control. From there, he
controlled Hall’s head, isolated the arm between his legs, torqued
the elbow beyond its bounds and coaxed the tapout.
The 23-year-old Lebosnoyani has won three fights in a row, all via
first-round submission.
Finally, CSW export Javier
Garcia submitted Leandro
Gomes with a last-second rear-naked choke in the first round of
their featherweight showcase. The 30-year-old Garcia (9-5, 4-2 LFA)
brought it to a close 4:59 into Round 1.
Gomes (6-3, 3-2 LFA) struck for a takedown inside the first 90
seconds but failed to consolidate his efforts with damage or
positional advances. Garcia swept into top position late in the
first period, applied his ground-and-pound and ultimately
transitioned to the back with his counterpart in a kneeling
position. He cinched the choke, engaged the hips and let his
squeeze do the heavy lifting. Garcia tried to stay alive until the
bell sounded but chose to raise the white flag of surrender in a
dramatic turn of events.
Garcia has rattled off five wins across his past seven
appearances.
In other action, Mark
Climaco (7-1, 3-1 LFA) took a unanimous verdict from Cody Davis
(5-1, 1-1 LFA) in a three-round flyweight encounter, drawing 30-27
scores from all three cageside judges; and Daniel
Compton (8-3, 1-0 LFA) upset Billy
Elekana (4-1, 2-1 LFA) by split decision—29-28, 28-29, 29-28—in
a three-round middleweight pairing.