The Legacy Fighting Alliance held an MMA fight card at the Minnetonka Room at Mystic Lake on Friday, September 21, which was also broadcast live on AXS TV Fights. In the main event, Brendan Allen beat Tim Hiley by submission in round three. Based on audience response, the event was a huge hit and left the crowd waiting to see more action in the near future.
The Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) is a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion that gives rising stars and top contenders the opportunity to prove their talent to fans and leaders in the industry. LFA was formed by the powerhouse merger between RFA and Legacy FC. On Friday night, the card consisted of new comers to MMA, who were making their first professional appearance in the cage along with more seasoned vets. They also had a variety of weight classes from Bantamweight to Heavyweight.
This was my first live MMA event and I haven’t watched a lot of televised bouts, but I came away impressed with the level of fitness and bravery of the fighters. It was incredible the amount of punishment that was dished out and received and they just kept coming. MMA is a lot like boxing, only in boxing matches when the boxer goes down, they get a 10 count and the referee decides if they can continue. In the MMA when you go down, you continue to get pummeled.
I came away with a whole new level of respect for the MMA athletes. These athletes actually do put their health and wellbeing on the line every fight. And they obviously put a lot of work in to just be able to step in the cage.
Some results from the card:
Main Event – Middleweight Title Fight – Brendan Allen (10-3) submitted Tim Hiley (7-1) with a rear-naked choke at 3:16 in round three.
Co-Main Event – Heavyweight Fight – Raphael Pessoa (9-0) knocked out Brian Heden (31-17) at 1:39 in round one.
Welterweight Fight – Bobby Lee (9-2) knocked out Ben Neumann (13-6) with a flying knee at 3:50 in round two.
Welterweight Fight – Jason Witt (14-5) submitted Ashkan Morvari (15-8) with a rear naked choke at 1:01 in round three.
Featherweight Fight – Josh Marsh (5-1) defeated Dimitry Gerasimov (9-7) via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28)
Bantamweight Fight – Askar Askar (8-0) defeated Derrick Mandell (8-5) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Heavyweight Fight – Daniel James (8-3-1) scored a TKO victory over Calyn Hull (5-1) at 0:36 in round two.
