3rd Round Arm-Triangle Submission win for Jamall Emmers. #LFA81 pic.twitter.com/i8neyW47Yu
— mma 21+ (@mma21plus) February 1, 2020
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.
TOTAL NUMBER OF LFA FIGHTS: 703
TOTAL NUMBER OF LFA EVENTS: 82
The Legacy Fighting Alliance on Friday returned to Costa Mesa, California, with several top prospects looking to make their next step toward the majors. LFA 81 featured the 200th submission in company history, not one but two unconscious fighters from chokes and the first Japanese-born fighter to set foot in the LFA cage.
SLEEPING GAS: LFA 81 was the second event—LFA 60 was the first—in organizational history to feature multiple technical submissions. Jamall Emmers and Geoffrey Thomas Mellor put Rafael Barbosa and Nicholas Badis to sleep with chokes in their respective bouts.
NOT AS BAD AS IT SEEMED: With five fights going to decision, LFA 81 tied several other cards for the sixth-most decision wins on a single night. LFA 71 holds the most with eight.
EMMER TIME: Emmers became the second fighter to render an opponent unconscious with an arm-triangle choke in the LFA cage. The first came at LFA 33, where Damon Jackson put out Chris Pecero with one in 2018.
SPARKLING SAM: Sam Hughes lifted her spotless record to 4-0 when she beat Lisa Mauldin by judges’ decision. The win marked the first time Hughes had ever fought beyond 90 seconds into the second round.
VINCE THE LFA PRINCE: Facing a short-notice replacement in Marvin Garcia, Vince Cachero dispatched his opponent with punches in the second round. In doing so, “The Anomaly” earned his fifth victory in the LFA cage, becoming the ninth fighter in company history to amass at least five wins.
YOU LUCKED OUT: Leandro Gomes defeated Yuma Horiuchi by a controversial split verdict and in doing so earned the first decision victory of his career. Each of his previous wins came in the opening round.
IT COUNTS FOR SOMETHING: Although his LFA debut was unsuccessful, Horiuchi still became the first Japanese-born fighter to ever compete under promotion’s banner.
200 LIVED TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY: Mellor’s submission was the 200th in company history when including fighters who have tapped to strikes, verbally submitted or had the fight end via technical submission due to referee intervention.
FREE TO TAKE RISKS: With Mellor performing the 200th submission in the LFA, submissions now account for about 28.5 percent of all LFA fight results—higher than the Ultimate Fighting Championship (21.5 percent).
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into LFA 81, Salaiman Ahmadyar had never lost on the scorecards (eight fights), Garcia had never been knocked out (15 fights) and Barbosa (14 fights) and Horiuchi (nine fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts.