LFA 72. Phoenix, Arizona. There are a lot of great fighters that come out of Phoenix, its probably the great wrestling program that they have down there. They have a bigger wrestling tradition than we do here in Texas.
Main event
Chris Harris vs Daniel Madrid – Middleweight – Harris missed weight by about a pound.
Round 1
Madrid starts off by not using any head movement. Just covering up and throwing hands, it works because he nails Harris with an uppercut and he swarms his opponent and wrenches on his neck to win by rear naked choke. 🚩Madrid wins by submission
Madrid is deadly in the clinch and on the ground, I haven’t seen much of his stand up game. He’s had a long pro career; if you make a mistake he’ll make you pay. I’d just like to see him fight a real striker. Chris Harris looked very soft in this fight.
Raphael Montini vs Anthony Birchak – Bantamweight
Round 1
Birchak uses some feints to get on the inside and gets the takedown. Birchak goes to full mount then takes the back and sinks in a rear naked choke, not quite a neck crank, but over the chin. Montini taps. 🚩 Birchak wins by submission.
Montini looks very soft, Birchak executed his gameplan perfectly
Raymond Pina vs Jacob McClintock – Welterweight
Round 1
McClintock looks huge. Pina takes him down and McClintock looks in total control on the ground even when Pina is on top. Pina is able to stand up and select when he wants to go in and when he wants to back out of McClintock’s guard.
Round 2
Pina gets the take down and keeps going in and out of McClintock’s guard. McClintock is able to catch him in a tight Triangle and switches to an Armbar to get the finish. 🚩 McClintock wins by submission.
Pina had a very poor gameplan. He didnt want to strike with McClintock, and he didnt want to go to ground with him. If he is that scared of striking, he should work on it more. McClintock was looking for one thing, and he got it.
Mario Israel vs Roman Salazar – 140
Round 1
Israel has good striking and moves around well. Salazar is a little apprehensive and is looking for takedowns.
Round 2
Salazar is more aggressive. As the round goes on the fighters are more evenly matched.
Round 3
Salazar lands some big shots. Israel is able to take the back and stay on Salazar for the majority of the round. 🚩 Israel wins by Split decision.
Salazar started to put it together late, I believe that’s why he lost. He needs to throw more feints and he needs to be first in that attack. If he does those things he can be a fantastic fighter. Israel also needs to throw more fakes, both guys should also work on their kicking game. They both have a strong base, but they can add a lot more to get a lot better.
Paris Stanford vs Jake Heffernan – Featherweight
Round 1
Heffernan eats some kicks and goes for the takedown. Stanford use a triangle to get back to his feet, he then rocks Heffernan with a huge over hand right. Heffernan recovers but is not looking for the takedown so much this time.
Round 2
They clinch, with Stanford getting the better of the positions. The round ends with Heffernan mounted and Stanford landing elbows.
Round 3
Stanford is able to survive a takedown and get back to his feet. Heffernan puts himself on bottom when he goes for a Kimura. Stanford shows a good top game and works to lock up a triangle. 🚩 Stanford wins by submission.
This is my second time seeing Heffernan, and the man is just sloppy. He doesn’t have any confidence in his striking and his wrestling is average at best. Its gonna be a long road for him. Sanford looked good. He’s exciting, and he seems like one of those fighters that is aware of little intricacies in fights. I’ll be looking out for him.
Mike Hamel vs Bruno Souza – Featherweight
Round 1
Hamel finds the chin once and gets the takedown and puts a beat down on Souza. Hamel hits Souza with the Dagastani hand-cuffs and beats him down more.
Round 2
Hamel goes for the takedown, and Souza just looks out of ideas on the ground. Hamel looks like he’s getting a little tired from all the punching that he’s doing
Round 3
Hamel takes Souza down and wraps him up like a package. More of the same, until Hamel punches Souza in the back of the head, and the fight gets stopped. 🚩 Souza wins by disqualification.
Souza looks incredibly soft on the ground. This fight looked like a total mismatch. If there is one thing Hamel should work on, its his ground and pound. He needs to throw that heavy-bag on the floor and pound the hell out of it. Tell him he just needs to try to hit the heavy-bag where the face of the human should be
Vince Arredondo vs Alejandro Sanchez – Lightweight Sanchez missed weight
Round 1
Calm start, both look stiff and Arredondo lands some kicks. Arredondo looks more confident as the round goes on.
Round 2
Sanchez eats a few heavy blows from Arredondo, then gets taken down. Arredondo cant do much with the takedown once he has it.
Round 3
Sanchez hits Arredondo with a 1-2 which forces Arredondo to take a swim. Alejandro Sanchez then swarms him and gets the TKO. Sanchez wins by TKO
Arredondo looked OK, but he was throwing pillow punches. This is what can happen when the fight goes too long. The longer the fight, the more variables come into play. They both need to throw more feints and fakes.
MMA Gods was unbroken Watching the whole thing