Legacy FC 21 results: Hobar, Bush claim titles; Garcia, Holm earn knockouts

After a pair of decision wins earned him a shot at Legacy Fighting Championship’s vacant bantamweight title, Matt Hobar (8-1) made the most of his chance and earned a first-round submission of Angel Huerta (6-2).

The contest served as the main event of Friday’s Legacy FC 21 event, which took place at Houston’s Arena Theater. The night’s main card aired on AXS TV.

A high-paced affair from the opening bell, Hobar took control of the fight early on and muscled his opponent to the floor. While Huerta escaped back to his feet, Hobar quickly deposited him again on the canvas and took dominant position. Huerta rolled to escape, but Hobar latched in the rear-naked choke and earned a quick tapout at the 3:05 mark of the first frame.

In the night’s co-feature, grappling specialist William “Bubba” Bush (6-2) claimed Legacy FC’s vacant middleweight title with a second-round stoppage of striker Larry Crowe (6-3).

Wrestling was the difference throughout the fight, as Bush was able to bring Crowe to the floor repeatedly in the opening round. Crowe was able to survive the early time on his back, but he slowed under the pressure. In the second, Bush took him again to the floor but this time was able to move quickly into mount. From there, he unleashed strikes that didn’t necessarily come in thunderous fashion but were frequent enough to force referee Kerry Hatley to step in against a fading Crowe.

The end came at the 2:41 mark of the second frame, and Bush was awarded the promotion’s 185-pound belt.

Garcia, Holm score devastating knockouts

Carrying the burden of a five-fight losing streak, Leonard Garcia (16-11-1) was in desperate need of a win in his featured contest with Rey Trujillo (14-11). He came through in violent fashion.

After a pair of back-and-forth opening rounds that appeared to lead toward an even fight moving into the third, Garcia took over with a dizzying barrage of blows. A high kick thrown as Trujillo was changing levels saw Garcia land a shin flush to the face. Trujillo was staggered, and Garcia unleashed a vicious flurry of right hands. Trujillo fell to the floor and tried to roll and survive, but Garcia was relentless and scored with wild haymakers until the fight was mercifully waved off.

In a 145-pound women’s bout, former boxing champion Holly Holm (4-0) remained undefeated, but it was a stunning high kick that did the damage rather than her highly touted hands. Holm delivered a devastating blow to score a second-round knockout win over Allanna Jones (2-3), the woman best known for welcoming transgender fighter Fallon Fox to professional MMA.

Jones held tough throughout the opening round, avoiding any serious damage from the vaunted striker. But in the second, a left high kick landed flush to the chin, and Jones went limp as she fell to the floor. Holm leaped on top with two more punches before she could be pulled off, but the kick had done all that was needed for the win.

Caldwell, Harris cruise to early wins

In a bantamweight contest, Darion Caldwell (3-0) kept his perfect record intact with a controlling win over an outmatched Gerzan Shaw (3-3). Just three fights into his MMA career, Caldwell showed flashes of impressive skills, including a few Anthony Pettis-esque leaps off the cage, but he lacked the fire needed to finish his opponent and settled for a clear-cut unanimous-decision win.

In the night’s first main-card contest, Jonathan Harris (7-3) snapped a two-fight losing streak by earning a second-round TKO win over Matt Rogers (8-6). Harris pressed from the opening bell, and after he rocked Rogers on the feet with a pair of knees, he took the fight to the floor and pounded away until the fight was stopped 47 seconds into the second frame.

The evening’s full results includes:

MAIN CARD

• Matt Hobar def. Angel Huerta via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:05 – to claim inaugural Legacy FC bantamweight title
• William Bush def. Larry Crowe via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:41 – to claim vacant Legacy FC middleweight title
• Leonard Garcia def. Reynaldo Trujillo via knockout (strikes) – Round 3, 0:24
• Holly Holm def. Allanna Jones via knockout (head kick) – Round 2, 2:22
• Darrion Caldwell def. Gerzan Chaw via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jonathan Harris def. Matt Rogers via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:47

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Ricky Turcios def. Colin Wright via split decision
• Scott Juarez def. Eric Valdez via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3
• Chris Lopez def. Kenny Burke via split decision
• Eric Garcia def. Mark Garcia via unanimous decision

For more on Legacy FC 21, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Matt Hobar)