Legacy FC 62 results: Rafael Lovato Jr. takes Cortez Coleman's arm to retain middleweight title

As one of the most decorated Rafael Lovato Jr. wanting the fight on the ground against Cortez Coleman. However, the middleweight champ had no trouble unleashing his strikes at Legacy FC 62.

Lovato (4-0) used a variety of kicks to keep Coleman (13-7) from getting comfortable in what should have been his realm. Coleman, to his credit, battled hard in the clinch, using brute strength to keep the fight standing when Lovato closed distance.

A straight shot from Coleman briefly dropped Lovato, but the challenger had no interest following to the ground before the opening round came to a close in a suddenly interesting 185-pound tilt.

Legacy FC 62 took place at Firelake Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla., with an AXS TV-televised main card.

Lovato’s inability to force the fight to the ground seemed to embolden Coleman, who began to throw powerful punches with far more frequency as the fight wore on.

Unfortunately, an accidental eye poke by Lovato in the second round temporarily left Coleman in agony for several minutes before the fight was started once again.

Coleman managed to continue battling with the damaged eye, still defending well against Lovato’s takedown attempts and bashing away with his own power punches when in range.

Coming into the fight, Coleman predicted he’d wear Lovato down before stopping him in the third round. But it was Lovato who kicked his game to the next level in the third frame, finally executing a takedown and constantly advancing position while Coleman – a jiu-jitsu brown belt in his own right – fought to keep from being caught in a fight-ending submission.

When trying to battle back to his feet, Coleman left his arm vulnerable and the jiu-jitsu world champion pounced, locking in the armbar for the submission at the 4:04 mark of Round 3.

Lovato remains undefeated with three submissions and one TKO in four trips to the cage.

Justin Rader’s (5-2) move to featherweight has paid serious dividends. No longer having to cut to bantamweight, Rader showed how strong and comfortable he looks at 145 pounds with a dominating performance against Mike Maldonado (5-1).

Rader scored with a quick takedown and immediately took Maldonado’s back. Once on the ground, Rader was not going to let the fight move back to standing and he fired away with punches until the referee stopped the fight at the 2:21 mark of Round 1.

Following the fight, an excited Rader admitted he still has plenty of room to improve, but expressed confidence in his new home at featherweight.

Muro’s technique tops Adkins

Manny Muro (6-2) and Derrick Adkins (8-3) seemed content to battle things out on the feet as they opened their lightweight bout. They didn’t change their minds until the fight came to an end.

Both men traded jabs and overhand rights with regularity. Muro’s boxing technique was the crisper of the two and he cut angles while using feints to subtly move Adkins to the spot he wanted to toss out hard jabs.

While Adkins’ technique wasn’t as sharp as Muro’s, he was the aggressor for much of the fight, putting out more offense while Muro looked for subtler paths to land one or two crisp shots.

At the end of the striking battle, the judges favored technique over aggression, winning on the judges’ scorecards by scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28.

Dan Ige (5-2) spent the first round of his featherweight bout with Diego Pichilingue (3-3) softening up his opponent. Ige used a variety of attacks to take over the initial round of the fight, leaving Pichilingue looking a bit lost in his corner heading into the second frame.

Ige opened Round 2 with strikes to set up a takedown. Once the fight hit the floor, there was no answer from Pichilingue before Ige locked up a kimura to force the tap at the 0:52 mark of Round 2.

Smith survives, then thrives against Dooley-Franco

Braden Smith (6-1) came back from an early deficit to tap Teagan Dooley-Franco (4-1) with a toe hold in the opening round of their welterweight bout.

Dooley-Franco scored an early takedown and quickly moved toward mount where he locked in an arm-triangle choke. Smith battled through the deep hold before turning the tide with a leg-lock attempt.

Smith torqued on the leg and appeared to force the tap but the fight continued. At that point, the 20-year-old adjusted once again and torqued to force the submission at the 2:53 mark of Round 1.

Complete Legacy FC 62 results include:

MAIN CARD

• Rafael Lovato Jr. def. Cortez Coleman via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 4:04
• Justin Rader def. Mike Maldonado via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:21
• Manny Muro def. Derrick Adkins via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
• Dan Ige def. Diego Pichilingue via submission (kimura) – Round 2, 0:52
• Braden Smith def. Teagan Dooley-Franco via submission (toe hold) – Round 1, 2:53
• Emmanuel Rivera def. Chris Mullins via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Aaron McKenzie def. Brandon Wright via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:03

For complete coverage of Legacy FC 62, check out the MMA Events section of the site.