Fight Facts: LFA 83

Jay PettryMar 10, 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.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF LFA FIGHTS: 719
TOTAL NUMBER OF LFA EVENTS: 84

The Legacy Fighting Alliance on Friday returned to its second home—The Bomb Factory in Dallas—for the 10th time and did so with a card showcasing some promotional mainstays. LFA 83 featured two men vying for the most wins in company history, a man who knows no speed besides knockout speed and the organizational postergirl racking up yet another victory.

YOU MEAN THE LEECH FACTORY: The Bomb Factory in Dallas became the second venue to host 10 LFA events. The first was the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota, which has seen 12 cards. No other city has hosted more than seven LFA shows.

THE LEECH ABIDES: Damon Jackson tapped Mauro Chaulet with a rear-naked choke at 2:11 of the first round. This earned “The Leech” his seventh win inside the LFA cage and tied Victor Altamirano—who won earlier in the night—for the most all-time.

ONCE BITTEN, TWICE LEECHED: With his submission win, Jackson extended his record for the most stoppages in company history to seven. All seven of Jackson’s wins inside the LFA cage have seen him finish his opponent.

LEECHING LIZARDS!: With the main event ending in the opening round, Jackson tied Austin Lingo, Brandon Royval and Taylor Johnson for the most first-round finishes in company history (four).

THE LEECH STANDS ALONE: Jackson has now submitted six different opponents in the LFA cage after tapping Chaulet. The next three closest fighters to this record each have posted four.

REAR-NAKED LEECH: After his submission by his preferred method of choice, Jackson adds to his own record of the most rear-naked chokes in LFA history with five.

A LEECH POSSESSED: Across his 17 career triumphs, Jackson has stopped his opponent in 16 of those bouts. All 16 have come within the first two rounds.

EIGHT LITTLE LEECHES: Jackson competed for the eighth time for the organization, tying Royval and Nate Jennerman for the second-most appearances in LFA history. Only Bobby Lee (nine) has fought more times under the LFA banner.

ONE LEECH TO RULE THEM ALL: The only two fighters in noteworthy MMA promotions who sport the nickname of “The Leech” both competed during the March 6-8 weekend. While Jackson emerged victorious by submission, Jingliang Li dropped a unanimous decision to Neil Magny at UFC 248.

BY THE SKIN OF HIS LEECH: Matt Dixon captured a controversial unanimous verdict over Justin Patterson to improve his undefeated record to 9-0. The win marked the third time that “Magic” had ever gone the distance.

ALL HAIL LEECH PUNS: By earning a close split decision win against Brittney Cloudy and notching her fifth LFA victory, Hailey Cowan became the winningest female fighter in promotional history. Cowan made her MMA debut at LFA 40 in 2018, and all six of her career outings have come at Legacy Fighting Alliance events in Texas.

LIVE BY THE LEECH, DIE BY THE LEECH: All nine of Austen Lane’s career bouts have ended by knockout, win or lose. Lane suffered a first-round knockout at the hands of Vernon Lewis.

LEECH SEE, LEECH DO: In taking a close split call over Chris Ocon, Altamirano also earned his seventh victory as an LFA fighter, tying him with Jackson for most all-time. However, Jackson suffered an additional loss in the promotion, while Altamirano is unbeaten in the LFA.

FLEECHWEIGHT: By recording his seventh win as a flyweight, Altamirano broke a tie with Royval for the most victories in LFA divisional history.

LEECHING OFF WINS: After slotting in as a short-notice replacement to take on Elijah Johns, Zac Kelley was knocked out in the opening frame. Kelley is currently riding a nine-fight losing streak, all by stoppage, including seven in the first round.

CAN’T LEECH ’EM ALL: With 21 defeats to his credit prior to facing Johns, Kelley entered with the second-most losses of any fighter to ever step foot inside the LFA cage. Only Jeremiah Castillo had more (30).

THE LEECHES ARE STACKED AGAINST YOU: Throughout LFA history, 12 fighters have come in with at least 15 defeats on their ledgers. Of those 12, only two have won: Chris Mickle and Carlo Prater.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into LFA 83, Cowan had never competed above 126 pounds, Ocon had never dropped consecutive bouts (five fights) and Jay Viola had never lost a fight on the scorecards (four fights).