.@LFAfighting kicked off 2019 in a big way. Here are some of my favorite shots from #LFA57. You can view all 10 on Instagram (@TheTruthJackson)... @AXSTVFights #MMA #WMMA #Knockout #Submission #BJJ #JiuJitsuhttps://t.co/fswSdUUQ1y pic.twitter.com/2e2WpQa3pd
— Mike Jackson, Esq. (@TheTruthJackson) January 20, 2019
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TOTAL NUMBER OF LFA FIGHTS: 505
TOTAL NUMBER OF LFA EVENTS: 58
Kicking off the New Year in style, the Legacy Fighting Alliance on Friday in Broomfield, Colorado, put on a thrilling card less than a half hour away from the original site of UFC 1. LFA 57 featured the new knockout king of the promotion, a rare tapout due to strikes and a fighter who finally kept the judges out of the picture.
SOLE SURVIVOR: Four fighters came in to LFA 57 with undefeated records of 4-0 or better -- Youssef Zalal, Calen Born, Matt Johnson and Taylor Johnson -- and only one of them remained unbeaten after the event ended: Taylor Johnson.
NO BETTER TIME THAN THE PRESENT: Anthony Adams scored the first finish of his career by knocking out Josh Cavan in the first round. Coming into his bout, Adams had gone the distance in all eight of his pro fights, including one decision loss.
PUT THE K-O IN WYDERKO: By smashing Matt Johnson with a burst of knee strikes, Jonathon Wyderko earned the first clean knockout from a knee in LFA history. Although nine previous KOs have stemmed from knees throughout organizational history, all nine were registered as technical knockouts.
MORE THAN A FINE: Of the last 10 LFA fighters to miss weight, eight have lost, including six by stoppage. Matt Johnson missed weight by one pound and suffered the knockout defeat to Wyderko. One of those two wins came at LFA 46, where Victoria Leonardo and Salina Rowland both missed weight before their bout. Leonardo won a decision.
NO SHAME IN CALLING IT QUITS: After suffering what appeared to be a jaw injury, Maddie Meacham verbally submitted to punches from Pauline Macias. Meacham became the first female fighter in promotional history to tap to strikes and the first fighter to do so verbally.
TSUNAMI TAYLOR: Taylor Johnson smashed Aaron Chambers at 2:43 of the first round, improving his undefeated record to 5-0 with five knockouts within two rounds. In his five career fights, he has now spent a combined 11:37 in the cage.
TOMBSTONED: By scoring a first-round knockout against Chambers, Taylor Johnson earned his fourth knockout inside the LFA cage. With all four taking place in Round 1, “Tombstone” now holds the records for the most first-round finishes and the most knockouts in LFA history.
FAB FOUR: With his fourth stoppage win under the LFA banner, Taylor Johnson tied Brendan Allen and Nate Jennerman for the second-most finishes in company history. They all trail Damon Jackson with six.
SLICE OF LIFE: On an unaired preliminary bout, Ashley Deen forced the doctors to intervene and stop the contest after inflicting a massive cut to Rowland’s eyebrow. With the win, Deen earned the third doctor stoppage technical knockout in LFA history.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into LFA 57, Zalal had never reached the scorecards (six fights), Matt Johnson never had a fight end in the first round (five professional, eight amateur bouts) and no women’s LFA bout had ever ended by doctor stoppage.
Jay Pettry is an attorney and a statistician. Writing about MMA since he started studying the “Eminem Curse” in 2012, and writing for Vice Sports and Combat Docket along the way, he put together many fight result and entrance music databases to better study the sport. You can find him on Twitter at @jaypettry.