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 LEGACY! 46 - Available on PPV 02.06.16 Belle Centre - Montreal
Event Preview prepared by: Taylor Powell (107803)
LEGACY! 460 PRELIMS
BANTAMWEIGHT: Mack Daddy (9-10) vs Balfour Darrow (3-3)
WELTERWEIGHT: Eddie Melo (10-9-1) vs Nino Niederreiter (3-1)
MIDDLEWEIGHT: Pekka Kindmark (11-5) vs Grado Itsyersel (4-2)
BANTAMWEIGHT: Hardijan Matic (11-4) vs Bee Jay (11-5)
WELTERWEIGHT: Jack Jone (11-3) vs Obi Canuel (6-1)
MAIN CARD
HEAVYWEIGHT: Ken Halo (15-6) vs Robbie Luatua (11-7)
Former LFC Heavyweight champion Ken Halo has gotten off to a rough start in Legacy so far. Halo challenged for the title in his first fight against Nick Fjera and was finished late in the 3rd round by TKO. In his last fight, title contender Constantine Kermit finished him very late in the 2nd round with a devastating punch that left Halo unconscious.
Halo is a relatively small heavyweight at less than 225 pounds at weigh-ins. He packs a lot of power in his punches, but he’s been seemingly overmatched so far in the promotion. He’ll get a little bit of a break in this fight after fighting two elite guys. Robbie Luatua is no pushover though. Luatua is a powerful striker in his own right and is certainly capable of handing Halo his third straight loss. Both fighters are well known for their striking and have nonexistent offensive wrestling, so it shouldn’t come as a shock to see this fight turning into a brawl on the feet.
MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT: © Rupert Blasts (9-0) vs Malik Al-Khaldi (12-1)
Rupert Blasts has come from nowhere to become one of the most feared middleweights in mixed martial arts. Blasts fought 6 times in a regional promotion and finished all of them by TKO before arriving in Legacy. After an impressive 2nd round TKO of Artem Irhin and an easy decision win over Kabal Labak, he got his first title shot just 8 fights into his pro career. After a very tight first couple of rounds, Blasts turned it on down the stretch and picked up the unanimous decision win over Cid Strife. Blasts used body kicks and punches in volume to zap the energy from Strife in that fight.
He faces another elite striker in Malik Al-Khaldi in his first title defense. Al-Khaldi is a very dangerous fighter who has saw only 2 of his 13 fights go to decision and is a former LFC champion at 185 pounds before moving on. Rupert Blasts has been on an absolute tear lately though, so he has a very tall task in front of him if he plans on leaving with the title after this fight.
BANTAMWEIGHT: William Blake (14-4-1) vs Jong Un Kim (17-3-1)
After an epic draw in their last fight, William Blake and Jong Un Kim will go to battle once again against each other. Jong Un Kim has 9 straight successful title defenses of the now defunct Imperial 135 pound title on his resume. A couple fights ago, he came very close to dethroning champion Edward Brown, ultimately losing by split decision.
Both guys are extremely well versed BJJ practitioners and Blake has 10 of his 14 wins by submission. In the first fight, Blake was the one with the 2 takedowns compared to none for Kim. What Kim did do in that fight was brutalize the lead leg of Blake’s with constant leg kicks that weren’t checked. One would think Blake will try to shore up being able to check those kicks this time around. Jong Un Kim has to think he has the edge in this fight if it stays standing after the last meeting, but Blake is an elite wrestler as well to go with his great Jiu-Jitsu. If this fight is much like the last meeting, it should be another instant classic.
SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT: Mookie Blaylock (30-11) vs Declan Sweeney (36-17)
In his last fight, Declan Sweeney was dethroned by upstart Phillip Dyson after an absolutely dominant performance from Dyson. Dyson won all 5 rounds on one judge’s scorecard and dominated the fight. Sweeney suffered his first loss in the Legacy promotion after winning the title in his second fight in the organization and winning a title defense against Scott Norton. At 37 years old, there is a lot of talk surrounding whether or not Sweeney is rapidly declining in skill level with age.
He’ll get a tough test against former title contender Mookie Blaylock. Blaylock is 3-1 in the promotion and his only loss was against then champion John Bunting. Sweeney isn’t getting any younger and should obviously start declining, but can he make another run at the title in Legacy before he retires? If he does, he has to avoid getting caught with one of the bombs Blaylock will certainly be throwing.
LIGHTWEIGHT: Liam Donnelly (15-4) vs Arlington Beech (18-3-1)
In our main event, we have a super fight! Arlington Beech is the dominant champion in Legacy at 170 pounds and has 3 straight successful title defenses. Beech is a legitimate top 10 170 pounder in the world. He’ll face off against the 6-0 in Legacy, Liam Donnelly. Donnelly is the champion at 155 pounds and is also a legitimate top 10 fighter in the world in his division. This is one of the most anticipated fights in Legacy history and it’ll be interesting to see if Donnelly will be able to stand with the much bigger Arlington Beech.
Beech is coming down to 155 pounds for this fight which should give Donnelly a big edge since Beech hasn’t fought at this weight since his debut in Legacy over a year ago. Donnelly is the better-rounded fighter and could pose some problems for Beech if this fight hits the ground. It should be noted that Donnelly also debuted at 170 pounds in Legacy, so he isn’t a small lightweight by any means. No matter what happens in this fight, the fans should get a treat seeing this dream matchup.
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