Legend 9 City of Dreams Macau

Legend 9 City of Dreams Macau

Published on June 11, 2012 by The Editor in Legend

Legend presents a full-blooded show from the Grand Hyatt Macau, City of Dreams

It’s Legend 9

Legend is the closest thing we have in this area to being a championship for Asian Pacific born fighters. It’s not enough to move to the region to fight on the Legend card, You have to have been born here. To be Legend Champion is to be the best in the whole Asian Pacific region. This is not a home for fighters on their way down, this is a major proving ground for fighters on their way up.

Legend are proud to announce Legend 9 at the Grand Hyatt, City of Dreams, Macau.

Here are my personal thoughts on the bouts:

Bout 1: Muhammad Hanif Bin Zainal (2-0-1) (Malaysia) Vs Diego Cuenca (no record) (Philippines)

Hanif is taking a step up from the local Malaysian shows where he has made quite a splash since his first fight which was a majority draw with Keith Alden. I was present at the show and that was a superb fight. Since then Hanif has had two quick wins, this is a step into a much bigger spotlight. Cuenca is making his pro debut but has a 4-0 amateur record. He also is a product of the American schooling system so you can be sure that he has a solid wrestling base. These two will both be determined to make a name for themselves and return home with a W.

Bout 2:  Chengie Wu (2-3-0) (China)  Vs Daniel Hooker (6-4-0) (New Zealand)

All three of Wu’s Legend appearances have gone to a decision and with his last bout being a pronounced a Win, maybe at last he has learnt what it takes to make the judges side with him. However, Hooker is not going to be an easy task for him to tackle. His last appearance at Legend was a rear naked choke loss to Wu Haotian since then he has defeated Rsuty McBride at AFC 3, So his confidence level will be on the rise. This is looking like a tough fight to call.

Bout 3: Yeong Gwang Choi (5-5-0) (South Korea) Vs Rob Lisita (9-4-0) (Australia)

Choi has two decision victories in his two Legend appearances but he is going to have an uphill task if he thinks he can get three in a row – Legend debutant Lisita has to hope his recent form in Australia transfers to Macau as he looks to make a name for himself.

Bout 4: Xian Ji (5-1-0) (China) Vs Jack Gooderham (6-0-0) (Australia) (Sun City Cup Bout)

Ji was on a five fight winning streak until he met Yusuke Kawanago at Legend 8 losing at 4:18 of the second round due to a guillotine choke. He is going to be desperate to get back to winning ways. However, his opponent Gooderham is making his Legend Debut and is bringing a perfect 6-0 record with him. This should be a very exciting bout.

Bout 5: Taiyo Nakahara (12-7-0) (Japan) Vs Nam Jin Jo (6-4-0) (South Korea)

Nakahara is massively experienced, however prior to getting into the ring at Legend 7 (Feb 2012) he had not fought for 13 months even though he was on a four night winning streak and that fight ended with him being disqualified due to punches to the back of the head. So, I am sure he wants to get his career back onto a winning road.  Jin has had a mixed Legend history with two wins and two losses.

Bout 6: Hideto Tatsumi (3-2-0) (Japan) Vs Pat Crawley (9-2-0) (New Zealand) 

Tatsumi is a big guy standing at 6’1″ and has a good ground game and a lot of power, but Crawley is a monster on a four fight win streak and after  his last win where he rear naked choked Rob Powdrill at the recent K’Oz event he is back at Legend looking to win his third Legend appearance in a row. He’s a good three inches shorter than Tatsumi but I don’t know if that’s enough of an advantage to see Tatsumi win this.

Bout 7: Honggang Yao (6-3-0) (China) Vs Augustin Delarmino Jr (6-1-0) (Philippines)

In all three of his appearances in the Legend ring Yao has gone the distance with two of those being wins, Delarmino on the other hand has finished both his Legend appearances early. Delarmino’s only loss was via decision and I believe he is going to pose a real problem to the durable Yao. Can the much older Yao stand with him? I don’t know, but it should be a very exciting fight.

Bout 8: Haotian Wu (6-1-1) (China) Vs Damien Brown (6-3-0) (Australia)

Wu has proven to be a tough competitor and is a real submission expert something Brown would do well to be aware of especially as 50% of his losses have been via submission. I cannot she Brown being able to tackle Wu who is aiming for a Legend title shot.

Bout 9: Jingliang Li (6-2-0) (China) Vs Dan Pauling (8-1-0) (Australia)

Li is a submission specialist with just two losses on his record both via decision. His Legend record stands at 3-2 and he is about to take on first time Legend competitor Pauling. Pauling is 5 years Li junior and yet has more pro fights. He tore his way through eight straight wins at the Australia organisation Fightworld Cup before moving up to the Cage Fighting Championship where he came up against Corey Nelson who was on three losses in a row, that all changed as he knocked out Pauling in just 33 seconds. It remains to be seen if that was a lucky punch and Pauling will look to bounce back with a great display, or maybe that was a step up in class too far. Look out for an exciting bout.

Bout 10: Koji Ando (6-3-2) (Japan) Vs Rob Hill (11-5-1) (Australia)

Ando has a tough battle on his hands here, he is 1-1 at Legend, Hill is 2-2 at Legend but his last two fights were the Wins, so he is on a bit of a roll. Both of these fighters are looking for a Lightweight title shot and will both be going all out to earn that opportunity.

So that’s it an exiciting night of fighting to be sure.

Legend don’t care which gym you train at, they are only interested in you “bringing it” and they are not impressed with who you used to be, they want future stars, not past it ones! I like that.

Legend 7 The Undercard From The City of Dreams, Macau – Results and Reviews

Legend 7 The Undercard From The City of Dreams, Macau – Results and Reviews

Published on February 11, 2012 by The Editor in Legend

Legend 7 February 11th from the Grand Hyatt, City of Dreams, Macau – Here’s The Undercard Results

Fight 1

Ming Yen Sung (China) Vs Agustin Delamino (Philippines)  Ref: Roger Chou

Round 1:

After a few attempts at a body lock – Delamino and Sung both threw punches Sung missed but Delamino didn’t and Sung went down, Delamino looked to turn away and claim a victory but Sung was not out so Delamino went straight back down and finished him.  45 seconds of the first round.

Fight 2

Mark Striegl (Philippines) Vs Ev Ting (New Zealand) Ref: Warren Wang

Round 1:

Striegl gets an early take down and then he picks Ting up and slams him down again. Ting turns Striegl but  Striegl is trying a guilotine, Ting is on top and goes for a mount on Striegl, Striegl turns him, Ting quickly puts in what looks to be a solid armbar but Striegl slips out of it after a few seconds when he must have been concerned. Striegl has Tings back and starts to lay in some punches before trying to get in a rear naked choke, this looks like trouble for Ting, but somehow he escapes, but Striegl keeps his back and again works punches to soften him up and again he tries another rear naked choke and he still has not got it right, he continues to work on Ting, Striegl has hooks in and is in total control eventually he gets the choke in and Ting fails to tap instead falling unconscious. I woud say Striegl avenged his team mates defeat with a dominant display. Winning at 3:51 of the first round Striegl advances to 7-0. I like how Striegl is effortlessly cool in victory.

Fight 3

Koji Ando (Japan) Vs Damion Brown (Australia) Ref: Thomas Van

Round 1:

An early kick from Brown and a nice right punch, Brown is laying some very solid leg kicks, he goes for a single leg take down but Ando takes his back and a struggle begins, Ando wraps on a triangle and Brown has to tap in just at just 2:27 of Round One.

Fight 4

Taiyo Nakahara (Japan)  Vs Michael Mortimer (Australia) Ref: Warren Way

Round 1:

Nakahara has Mortimer down early and he tries an early rear naked choke and it’s looking tight, somehow Mortimer escapes but Nakahara still has an arm but then he transitions again into a rear naked choke, Mortimer again escapes and is on top he gives a couple of punches before standing up, Nakahara stays down and as Mortimer approaches Nakahara catches him with a nice kick that took Mortimer by surprise he will be a bit unsure about approaching again.

Mortimer cannot resist Nakahara’s siren call and goes to he joins him on the ground not much happens though and the ref stand them both up.

They are soon back on the floor and Mortimer looked like he had hurt him self going to ground and Nakahara was soon ontop and was pounding Mortimer, the ref is plainly heard telling im to watch the back on the head on more than one occasion but Nakahara continues to hit Mortimer until the ref stops it. There is some confusion but soon it is clear he has disqualified  Nakahara for excessive punches to the back of the head. He can have no complaint the ref did tell him clearly.

Fight 5

Ji Xian (China) Vs Leonard Delarmino (Philippines) Ref: Roger Chou

Round 1:

Delarmino’s Brother won his fight earlier in just 45 seconds could he match that?

Xian came out and went for an early take down, Delarmino takes top position and puts in a guillotine, Xian stand up and though the guillotine is still in it does not seem to be troubling Xian, it goes back to the ground and now Delarmino is in a guillotine and it looks to be very tight, for a few seconds Delarmino looks to be in trouble and then he manages to escape. They stand up again, but are soon down on the ground and it’s clear that Xian has very sharp ground skills, Xian has Delarmino in an armbar but he manages to escape and they stand up again.

Delarmino again has a guillotine in and they go to the ground Delarmino taking top position eventually Xian ends up with his head in a leg triangle but he manages to escape and takes side control and he places a couple of elbows into Delarmino and with just twenty seconds left he gets a solid rear naked choke in, Delarmino tries desperately to hold on but at the ten second clapper he has to give. 4:50 win to Xian who has an impressive ground game

And that was the free to view undercard. Here’s what I thought of it.

Well, it was full of action but sadly none of the fights got beyond the first round. This is such a difficult game to predict and fights that look good on paper can prove to be less than exciting. I don’t think any of the fights were poor but, we never had a real barnstorming crowd pleaser. I must confess my expectations were higher.

What we did see though were some very skillful fighters who I am sure will feature in further events.

At 7-0 Striegl must soon be moving up to the main event card.

Something For The Weekend Sir? – Legend 7 – City of Dreams – The Main Card

Something For The Weekend Sir? – Legend 7 – City of Dreams – The Main Card

Published on February 9, 2012 by The Editor in Legend

So, Here We Go The Review of The Legend 7 Event to be held at the Grand Hyatt, City of Dreams, Macau, this coming
SaturdayFebruary 11th.

Firstly some important news about how you can watch this event if you cannot be there. Taken from the Legend website:

‘the Legend 7 main card will be available live on Pay-Per-View on Main Event (Australia, 10 PM AEDT) and SKY (New Zealand, midnight NZDT); live via internet broadcast on PPlive, Qiyi, QQ, SOHU, SINA, Tudou, and Youku (China, 7 PM CST); and on Pay-Per-View across all major US and Canadian PPV platforms at 9 PM EST. Additionally, Legend 7 will be available via tape-delay broadcast on almost a dozen networks across China and the rest of Asia. For more information, please visit www.legendfc.com/broadcast/‘

So many of you who cannot be there will get an opportunity to watch this event, sadly Malaysian’s cant, which does not surprise me, I mean how would the local stations fit it in amongst indoor football with no crowd, ten pin bowling and other retarded non sports that they show. What would you prefer the world fastest growing sport or speed knitting? Malaysia 

Legend 7 – The Main Card

Wang ‘The Boss’ Sai (4-2-1) Vs Gareth ‘Fists of Fury’ Ealey (6-2-0)

Both of these fighters have appeared in Legend before and previous to that have both come up through good quality regional events.

Sai won his last fight against Ken Hamamura at Legend 5 due to a Hamamura knee injury. At the same event Ealey lost a Unanimous Decision to Hae Jun Yang, during which Ealey damaged his hand, which led to him needing to take time off to recover. Both of these fighters have a good mixed game, stand-up or ground work it’s all the same to them, they can defeat you in either situation. They both have something to prove. It will be interesting to see how Sai has improved now that he is training at Legacy in Thailand, this should really help him fill gaps in his game. This looks a very good match up.

Hideto  Tatsumi (3-1-0) Vs Hae Jun ‘Hungry’ Yang (6-2-0)

Tatsumi is coming from Deep to challenge Legend regular Yang. Tatsumi is one tough guy and likes to stand and bang but Yang would welcome a chance to stand and bang with him, his record is littered with TKO’s and KO’s. This could be a major fight of the night contender with action guaranteed and indeed expected, of course it could just as easily be a knockout of the night fight. The moral? Don’t take your eyes from the ring during this bout.

Wembo Liu (6-5-0)  Vs  Matt ‘Rolling Bear’ Cain (9-6-2)

Liu’s last fight was a decision loss at Legend 6 to Sam ‘Striker’ Brown and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. He has a well rounded skill set and can beat you standing up or submit you on the ground. He is also stepping down a weight class.

This will be Cains first fight since breaking his hand on his way to a Unanimous Decision loss to Myung Ho Bae at Legend 2 back in 2010. He has also fought at CFC and Shooto events so is no stranger a to a tough scrap. I do though expect Liu to prove to strong for him.

The next fight is for The Bantanweight Championship

Honggang ‘The Master’ Yeo (6-2-0) Vs Tuerxun Jumabieke (10-0-0)

Yeo is coming off of two previous Legend wins and is looking to avenge a defeat that was inflicted on him by Jumabieke back in 2009. Since that fight he has a 6-1 record and has a radically different style to those earlier days having changed his training and team.

Jumbieke, since that fight has just carried on winning and now sports a stunning 10-0 record even so this is the biggest stage he will have ever fought on. Yeo however is used to fighting at Legend and I think this could be quite the battle. The bottom line is whoever wins this fight deserves the title. This could be an amazing fight.

This fight is for The Welterweight Championship

Jingliang ‘The Leech’ Li (6-1-0) Vs Myung Ho ‘Wolverine’ Bae (12-5-0)

Li has had four fights at Legend, the last three of which were all wins, one a TKO, another a Submission and the final a Decision, so you can see he is well rounded and is used to the big stage.

Bae the reigning Welterweight Champion also has four previous fights at Legend, all wins, three of them by Decision. In fact through out his career the majority of his wins have been via a decision, this tells us he is one tough guy equally able to tackle stand-up or grapplers and always does enough to outfight his opponent. But is he tough enough to hold on to his title from Li’s assault.

Macau must feel like a second home to both these fighters.

So that’s your main event. Now, let’s have a look at how it compares to ONE FC’s Main Event

Remember in the Undercard Competition, Legend comprehensively kicked ONE FC’s ass.

Well, here’s the deal. Both organisations have very interesting Main Events the only weak fight at ONE FC is the Main One – Sapp against Gracie, names people know but these people have no chance of ever fighting in UFC, those days are gone.

The other fights from both organisations are neck and neck with solid cards of quality fighters. The bottom line here is if you can get access to either of these main cards you will be in for a treat.

It may simply come down to a simple choice like Cage or Ring?