2015-08-15
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LEGACY! 5 Event Preview

Event Preview: LEGACY! 5
Legacy!
2015-08-08, Montreal, The Expo
Author:Louie DePalma



Legacy! 5 Event Preview



Prepared by Russ T. Shackleford.



In this weekly edition of Legacy! we return to the Expo in Montreal where attendance will be at an all time high as local fighters make their debuts tonight. That isn’t the only draw though, There will be many even and entertaining matchups as fighters young and old, tall and short, or weak and strong look to make their mark in this historic event. Tonight’s main event is sure to be a stunner as expert grappler Terrell Grant and lovable Johnny Cage compete for the SHW title. The co-main event will feature two grapplers that fought side by side for a year of their lives at Highland Games. These two will face off for their first time in a David vs Goliath match where the mighty midget will try to overcome a 15 cm height and a 26 lbs weight disadvantage. There will be a lot premiers tonight but many fighters will be returning to Montreal. The third preview deserves an honorable mention and will showcase two fighters that are undefeated in Legacy thus far. Both of those fighters are excellent performers and are coming off very tough, entertaining and, narrow wins. Thanks to the participation of a few managers we took statements from the undercard fighters and gave them the chance to talk a little smack in the pre fight build up. Without out further adieu let’s get on with the action!



Main event 265 lbs Division Terrell Grant vs. Johnny Cage



Welcome to Legacy’s first title fight in the Super Heavyweight division. The not-so-gentle giant, Terrell Grant will face one of the toughest nights in his career as he squares off against the always entertaining Johnny Cage. Terrell has made quite an impression on Legacy fans after earning two first round submission victories in rapid succession. Terrell Grant has been on cloud nine since his recent victory over Constantine Kermit which snapped a short 50% W/L streak and proved that he has what it takes to compete with some of the best. Both of these fighters have managed to gain 14 wins in their time as fighters and Johnny fought four of those fights in a completely different realm, a feat that few other fighters can hope to match. Terrell is a submission specialist and has racked up 11 wins in that fashion and if it weren’t for an opponent walking into his outstretched fist, he would have only had submission and decision wins on his record. Terrell is has been chomping at the bit for a tough opponent and Legacy! was more than willing to oblige. Johnny Cage will walk into this fight looking to conquer a win one lose one streak of his own. John Carlton studied martial arts and acting for most of his life and was engrossed in action movies. As soon as he came of age John moved to LA and took on the stage name Johnny Cage. Johnny’s life as an actor was simple for a time but, scandals like Milli Vanilli turned even the most casual moviegoers in to critics. With his new found fame Cage quickly became the target of much scorn. Skeptics worldwide began to question if Johnny was even capable of performing scenes without a double and that was something his massive ego could not allow. With ticket sales for his movies on the decline, Johnny decided that something had to change fast. Johnny jumped at the opportunity to fight in a tournament that promised to showcase some of the best fight fighters in existence. Johnny decided that fighting in a non-publicized underground organization that had no rules and held fights to death was the next obvious step to gain some hype. He wanted people to know that the badass they saw on screens was the same guy that he looked at in the mirror each day. Cage won three decisions in a row and made it to the MKII finale where his arm and neck were snapped in the only kimura related death on record. Raiden felt like “a real douche” for letting Johnny die when he could have easily thrown in the towel at any point and the gods saw fit to grant Johnny another life. Cage came back swinging and earned an impressive nine win streak in Imperial, seven of which were TKO’s. It was during this time that Cage captured the Heavyweight belt and defended it in a rematch. Johnny’s luck ran out as he suffered the first KO of his career when a new challenger for the belt appeared. A second KO loss followed shortly after and Cage felt it was time for a move. With chips on both shoulders, Cage will be intent on ending a four fight 50% W/L streak of his own at the expense of Grant. Everything will be out in the open on this one as both fighters know what they need to do to get a win out of this fight. Grant might have slightly better boxing but, he’ll be very reserved about striking against Cage who is a KO artist. Grant might paw away at a distance with some jabs and leg kicks for a short time but, he’ll be keeping an eye out for a good chance to score a clean takedown. Double legging a tree might be easier than taking down Cage who once stuffed 22 in a decision win over Buster Bluth. Grant has a reputation for top notch takedowns but, will face a tough challenge here. To take Cage to the ground it might be prudent to chop away at the trunk first. Terrell will be cautious in the vertical with the knowledge that Cage has the power to get to his chin. Johnny Cage won’t want much to do with this fight when it goes to the ground. Grant will try to secure a speedy submission win against Cage who will look to transition to the feet when Grant makes an error. Cage won’t be looking to expose any limbs to Terrell who is similar to McGyver in that he can make a submission from anything that he’s given. Something’s gotta give in this fight and we’ll see if Terrell can force a takedown and submission before Cage can deal a fatality.



Co-Main Event 145 lbs Division Jomlong Kiapoity vs. Warren Parker



A pair Highland Games Brown belts will grapple out their debuts as they seek to test their skills against one another in a very even match up. Kiapoity often attended Muay Thai boxing matches as a young adult but, quickly grew to dislike the art after an unfortunate incident at a match. His favorite MT fighter accidentally slapped Kiapoity in the face while trying to give him a high 5 after a victory. Kiapoity fell over to the amusement of the crowd. Kiapoity then jumped on his idol’s back and rear naked choking him until authorities plucked him from that position. The story went viral and Kiapoity became known as the mighty midget. With a reputation to protect and offers flowing in, the mighty midget began training to compete as a grappler. Kiapoity overcame much larger fighters and managed to win his first two pro fights. The mighty midget presented excellent dedication and determination by sticking with Highland Games for another 14 fights, taking only a brief break to take 2nd place in an Island QFC tournament. While with Highland Games he posted a 9-6 record with 7 of those win via submission. Tensions grew between Jomlong and his manager after the QFC tournament loss and a demoralized Mighty Midget lost his welcome home fight with HG and sought new management. After a 50% W/L rate in his last 6 fights Kiapoity and manager, Aristoteles Onassis decided to take a new approach and they will try their luck in Legacy! this Saturday. Standing opposite, Warren Parker has also recently come under new management as well. Parker has had a bit more success and posted a 60% win out of 5 fights with manager Callum McGregor. A french canadian born in Waterloo Ontario, Parker was well received after landing in Montreal. Warren began fighting in his off time at numerous bars after signing with Montreal’s own ECFC. During this time Warren dished out 2 submission wins and received 2 KO’s. After this he made a brief appearance at CEFC and won both of his fights. Due to contract disputes Parker parted ways with his former manager at this time and took a year off of fighting to explore the world a little. Parker traveled London where he linked up with manager Callum McGregor and began training for the Highlands Games. Parker set up shop in London and has been training there since although, he often makes flights to visit his family and friends. Many of which will be able to view him fight in person for the first time in 2 years. Kiapoity won’t be afforded such a luxury as his family mainly resides in Thailand but, he has received a lot of hype in the build up to this fight and is the more popular fighter by far. This doesn’t bother Warren who is hoping to gain some of those fans after a victory. Jomlong comes into this fight 15 cm shorter and, makes up for this in raw experience. Kiapoity has dealt with taller for fighters for almost his entire career and learned quickly how best exploit a lankier fighters weaknesses. The only difference between this and most of the mighty midget’s other fights is that Parker also holds a weight advantage of 23 lbs. This won’t deter Kiapoity from taking this fight to the ground where he will be more confident. These two fighters stack up pretty evenly on the ground and will provide an entertaining match if they both have their heart in grappling. While Kiapoity has recently earned his first TKO he won’t look to fight where Parker holds the advantage. He will be forced to take this one to the ground as soon as he gets a chance. Parker will come out very aggressive and with options. He could clinch up, try to stuff some takedowns, swing for the fences or shoot for a takedown on his own and regardless of what he chooses it will be prudent for him to land some strikes early and shift the momentum in his favor. When this one makes it’s to the horizontal we should have one helluva spectacle as these advanced grapplers put their evenly matched skills to the test. Parker will likely slow his pace significantly whilst grappling and Kiapoity has worked at submissions with an almost feverish pace in the past. If both of these fighters have a mind for grapplng they’ll be looking to dominate in the guard position. Kiapoity will be aggressively searching for any exposed limb to exploit and might be a bit wreckless in his finishes wereas Parker will be looking to take advantage of that eagerness to finish quickly. Anything could happen at any second of this match and it’s sure to another great one as these two accomplished fighters make their Legacy! premier.



205 lbs Division Edinger Nucleus vs. Wayne Conner



Both of these fighters are coming into this fight off of tough wins in their Legacy debuts. Nucleus tip- toed by Matt Kroblur in a hard fought split decision victory that earned him the OTN award. Edinger knew that the road to success against Kroblur would be paved by leg kicks and bad intentions. If unable to slow Kroblur considerably Nucleus would have had a tough night. Nucleus had success with leg and body kicks within the opening minutes but, Kroblur quickly matched the pace countering with some strikes of his own. Content with the damage he had dealt Kroblur took the fight to the ground. Nucleus fought off any submission attempts with ease and frustrated Kroblur who held an edge in grappling. At the end of the first round Nucleus was up on the scorecard, this led Kroblur to come out aggressive at the start of round 2. Kroblur missed more strikes than he landed and Nucleus began taking the momentum. Kroblur scored a takedown with ease but was yet again thwarted in all submission attempts. Both fighters were getting tired at this point and activity slowed considerably forcing the referee to stand the fighters back up. Nucleus had less success striking this time around and Kroblur was able to block most incoming shots and score with another takedown. This led to nothing and concluded the 2nd round. Both fighters got their second wind and came out strong in the 3rd round. Kroblur looked to soften Kroblur with many damaging shots while Nucleus scored points with excellent striking defense and accurate strikes. At the end of 3 Edinger Nucleus had his hand raised in a contreversial decision win. Wayne Conner also faced a very tough match with a Slade Wilson who controlled the fight for a time and was having success moving into the clinch, landing head strikes and, then shuffling out of distance. Slade had narrowly taken the first round but, had suffered some damage to Conner. Slade was losing the striking battle and knew that he needed to take the fight to the ground. Conner was aware of what was coming and stuffed takedowns with ease. This frustrated Slade who came into the 2nd round looking to build some momentum immediately by instigating a clinch and pounding away at Conner. He weathered the blows and let Slade exhaust himself. Conner needed to be sure he was ahead after losing the first round and unleashed a torrent of strikes with only seconds to spare in the 2nd round. After a particularly stinging blow, Slade smiled and shrugged. Conner smiled back and sent him stumbling to the canvas with a head punch. Slade kept his wits though and tripped Conner while he was advancing to seal the deal. Slade scrambled and held on until the round ended. Conner was looking fresh as a daisy when round 3 started where his dominance really began to show. Slade displayed immense heart but, Conner brought the heat and landed some brutal head strikes that had Slade falling back and looking to hold on until the fight was over. Falling back quickly became a full scale retreat when Slade was rocked, knocked down and, knocked out. Edinger Nucleus is rather cerebral and has proved that by adapting gameplans in his 13 fights, 12 of which were wins. With 7 wins by KO and 1 via TKO it’s no secret that Edinger prefers to knockout his foes but his two submission wins have shown that he’s a capable grappler as well. Edinger is the type of guy who makes you regret taking him down. That doesn’t faze Wayne Conner who is a striker as well and has 5 wins to his name, 2 KO’s and 2 TKO’s. Conner has no business shooting takedowns in the face of superior grappling and will try to keep this one standing at all costs where he can best deploy his strong boxing edge. While both fighters are 23 years old Edinger has a strong advantage when it comes to experience and that can be dangerous when dealing with a man named after parts of the brain. Edinger began training 2 years prior to Conner and won his first 8 fights consecutively. Conner has only fought 8 times. Nucleus will be expected Conner to drop head punches in bunches. If he is to have success against Nucleus it might be wise to switch it up a little and ramp up the leg kicks and body strikes. These two are both excellent fighters and have proven that they can overcome opponents in very difficult situation. They’re both consistently provide shockers and this night won’t be any different.



265 lbs Division Master Wong vs. Travis Browne



Montreal’s own lovable furball, Master Wong has left a successful stint at HMFL in search of some stiffer competition. 30 year old Travis Browne seeks to fill that gap and with 5 years experience in the sport. His aim coming into this fight is to teach the 21 year old master (who has 3 years experience) a thing or two about the sport. Although they go about it in completely separate ways, both of these fighters are KO artists. All of Wong’s wins have come by strikes and he has inflicted 3 KO’s and 3 TKO’s on 7 opponents, receiving a knockout himself. Travis Browne is also an accomplished striker but he prefers to KO his opponents where they stand, posting a professional record of 9-7 with all of his victories credited to strikes. During this time frame Browne captured VFC’s Super Heavy Weight and defended it once before losing it in the subsequent defense. Wong has the much better record but Browne has faced a tougher schedule and has twice the fight experience. This doesn’t concern Wong who has faced older but lesser experienced fighters throughout his career, his opponents posted a prefight combined record of 24-16 compared to Brown’s 95-42. Both of these fighters have a penchant for going home early Browne averages 2 minutes and 58 seconds each match and has spent a total of 47 minutes and 30 seconds of his life in the ring. It’s no surprise that he has twice as much experience as Wong who has spent a meager 20 minutes and 28 seconds in the cage. He offsets this by showing similar determination to end his fights quickly and posted an impressive average time of 2 minutes 55 seconds. Don’t leave your seats, look away or, blink because when two SHW strikers square off anything could happen at any moment especially tonight. Striking defense will play a key role here as the damage these SHW’s can do in one blow is substantial. More importantly these fighters will need to control the pace of this fight as well as where it takes place. Wong’s GNP strategy relies on his ability to take down opponents quickly where he can deal the most damage. If Browne is able to stuff even one takedown attempt it will likely open a chance for stuffing another and go a long way towards improving the odds. Call it Karma but after dealing cuts to his first two victims, Browne was cut himself. It’s been said that he was cursed and that for each opponent he opens gashes on his own become worse. It’s more likely that Browne’s bony knuckles account for his ability to cut opponents and that his aging that skin has become riddled with scar tissue and lost the elasticity it once held. It’s impossible to deny that Browne’s scars have gotten much worse after cutting 10 opponents throughout his career. Wong will have to GNP Browne quickly if he wants to avoid getting blood on his new shorts.



155lbs Division Timothy Poggle vs. Toktogulovich Bakiyev



These two fighters have only two things in common, Bandy and MMA. Hockey and brawling come hand in hand and Poggle learned quickly that he was much better at knocking people senseless than knocking balls into goals. Poggle has never claimed to be a masterful hockey player but, received some notoriety in High School when videos of his hockey fights circulated. The day he turned 18 Poggle signed with AXF and moved to Sydney where he remained until their recent closure. Poggle racked up an impressive 8-1-1 record containing a 7 fight undefeated streak and 145lbs title fight victory. Friends and family unable to travel to Sydney have eagerly awaited Poggles return for 3 years and will flock to the Expo Saturday so that they might witness him at work. On the opposite side of the spectrum Bakiyev was proficient at Bandy and became the star player while competing for his native Kyrgyzstan’s professional team. While training for Bandy consumed much time, Bakiyev took every chance to practice boxing and it wasn’t long before the call of the cage was too much to resist. Bakiyev quit bandy and moved to Montreal on the promise of fame and glory. A language barrier complicated life for a young Bakiyev who entered a TWGC without understanding the rules at all. The ref was forced to intervene a few times when Bakiyev cocked his fist back to punch but, he learned quickly that this fight would be fought with arms and legs not feet and fists. Bakiyev scored a few points but, had realized too late what was going on and lost 7-2. The communication breakdown didn’t end there and Bakiyev lost his next two fights. Manager Paul Huntington has never been one to quit on a fighter when the going gets tough and he decided to enroll Bakiyev in basic english classes. A translator might have been less time consuming but, finding a Kyrgyz translator in Montreal was like finding a needle in 1000 haystacks. Learning english greatly improved Bakiyev’s training and he was able to turn his career around and earn 9 wins and 5 more losses. Bakiyev has never hit very hard and has only knocked out only 2 opponents in 17 matches. This has never fazed Bakiyev who used accuracy and stamina to fight to 7 decision victories and 3 more losses. Both of these fighters are strikers, so a majority of this match up will be spent standing. Poggle has a strong edge in MT and will aim to take control early in this fight with leg kicks and punches, particularly headshots. Baikiyev is a tried and tested boxer and has shown some good head movement but a weak chin in the past. He might not have the power to reach Poggle’s chin but that won’t stop him from trying. Bakiyev will stand at a distance and jab away at the head and body and will likely try to duplicate the results of his previous and leave Legacy! with a KO tonight. When these two make their way to the ground it will likely be by Poggle’s choice, who will put his brown belt to the test against Bakiyev’s purple belt. This match will end one of two ways, a decision victory for Baiyev or a KO for Poggle, anything could happen and it is an excellent fight to open up the main card.





This week we tried something a little different with the undercard and I’d like to thank all the managers that submitted statements for their fighters.



265 lbs division Jyrki Kasvi vs. Farrokh Bulsara



All that Farrokh had to say regarding the fight was "and another one bites the dust..."

Kasvi wasn’t reached for comment.



170 lbs division Alfred Hitscock v Henry White



170 lbs division Kukulcan Tonga v Brendan Murphy



170 lbs division Erik Kramer v Mad Rob



At weigh in’s a confident Erik Kramer had this to say: I truly believe this guy doesn't have anything for me. I plan on ending this fight very quickly.



205 lbs division Rafiki WhoHitYou v Farmhouse Flander

 

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