Couples that slay together stay together!
Buys is pronounced #Baes for a reason.
Congrats to @CheyWarPrincess and @Wrestling_JP on their big wins last night at #LFA78. They are the first married couple to fight on the same card in @LFAfighting history! #MMA#LFANation pic.twitter.com/sq8Ycfx6B7— LFA (@LFAfighting) November 17, 2019
Fight Facts is a breakdown of all the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.
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TOTAL NUMBER OF LFA FIGHTS: 676
TOTAL NUMBER OF LFA EVENTS: 79
The Legacy Fighting Alliance on Friday in Belton, Texas, made a splash on UFC Fight Pass and did so with a barnburner of a headliner. LFA 78 featured a crushing one-shot knockout, a duo that saw husband and wife come out on top and a bizarre heavyweight decision.
THE EARTH SAYS HELLO: LFA 78 marked the first event for the promotion to be held on UFC Fight Pass. The LFA held its first 77 cards on AXS-TV. LFA 77 went untelevised.
WELCOME TO FIGHT PASS: Adrian Yanez and Kyle Estrada put on a fight for the ages in the main event, and Yanez came out with a split verdict. The decision snapped a six-card streak where each headlining bout ended before the final bell -- the longest streak of its kind in company history.
ELBOW, MEET TEMPLE: Jose Johnson annihilated Rafael Costa with an elbow at 1:59 of the opening round, earning the first clean elbow-related knockout in company history. Although nine fighters have been stopped throughout LFA history with elbow strikes, none of those finishes came by KO.
KNOCKING PEOPLE OUT IS WAY EASIER: After starting his career at 4-3 with three decisions and a tapout win, each of the next seven victories for Johnson have come by first-round knockout.
HE FACED THE NATION: After earning his seventh career win with a rear-naked choke over Nation Gibrick, Brant Moore has tapped his opponent in five of those seven wins, with all five coming in Round 1.
HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE: J.P. Buys and Cheyanne Buys both competed at this event, making them the first husband and wife team to ever appear on the same LFA card. Both won their bouts.
YOUNG SAVAGE INDEED: Ten fights into his career, J.P. has yet to go the distance following his first-round knockout of Cristian Rodriguez. With a 100 percent finish rate -- not counting a disqualification win from 2018 -- “Young Savage” has stopped five opponents in the opening frame.
DIFFICULT STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Rebecca Adney has yet to record a win as a professional after dropping her third career bout to Cheyanne. She has suffered all three defeats by unanimous decision, previously losing to future Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Shana Dobson and Invicta Fighting Championships contender Stephanie Geltmacher.
TAMED THE WILDMAN: Vernon Lewis captured a majority decision over Tra'von Butler after “Wildman” lost one point for repeatedly losing his mouthpiece. The unusual heavyweight bout was the eighth scored as such in LFA history and the first between fighters above welterweight.
HOLD THE HAILEY: Originally slated to appear in the co-main event, former flyweight Hailey Cowan was hospitalized due to a bad weight cut the day before weigh-ins. Her bout with Lisa Mauldin was scrapped, and Cowan vowed that she would move up to bantamweight.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into LFA 78, Costa had never been knocked out (13 fights), Gibrick (three fights) and Butler (two fights) had never been defeated and Costa had also never competed outside of Brazil.