Legacy FC 20 comes to us this week from Corpus Christi, Texas, and as usual for the promotion, the card is filled with familiar faces and up and comers alike. The main event sees former UFC vet Carlo Prater (31-13-1) taking on Carlos Diego Ferreira (6-1) in a battle of the wily vet vs. the newcomer. Expect a lot of mat work from both of these grapplers, as both are well-versed in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Ferreira has stopped 5 of his six wins via submission, while Prater has 17 submissions on his record. Don’t let the disparity in their records to fool you, this will be a closer fight than it looks. Next up, former Strikeforce and Bellator vet Adam Schindler (10-5) looks to bring his slick submission game front and center against fellow featherweight Chris Pecero (8-5). Schindler has lost his last 3 out of 4 fights, and Pecero was actually on a 4-fight winning streak before losing a split-decision to Luis Vega at the end of March. While their records may make it look like neither of these guys are world beaters, Schindler is a knee injury away from possibly winning his last bout against Chase Hackett, and he’s only been stopped once, by Ronnie Mann in Bellator, over the last few years. Pecero is also a narrow decision away from being on a five fight winning streak. This featherweight battle should be competitive. Legacy welcomes another UFC vet into its ranks, as bantamweight Damacio Page (15-8) looks to bounce back from a winless run in the UFC in which he went 0-3 and is currently on a 4-fight losing streak dating all the way back to WEC 53. The man across the cage from him is undefeated Patrick Ybarra (5-0). Ybarra has finished every fighter he’s faced, with four submissions and a knockout, but Page is a huge step up in competition for him, and you can believe that with Greg Jackson in his corner, Page is ready to gameplan a win if he can’t pull it off violently. This will be a tough test for Ybarra, but it’s still a great bantamweight fight and a perfect example of the prospect vs veteran matchmaking we see so often in Legacy. Flyweights are next, as Missouri’s Alptekin Ozkilic (7-1) fights Antonio Banuelos (20-9-1) of WEC, UFC and Dream fame. Banuelos was making a great run in Dream’s Fight For Japan Bantamweight tournament, defeating the formidable Imanari by split-decision, but since losing to Bibiano Fernandes in the finals and subsequently dropping to 125, Banuelos has had a rough run. He lost his Legacy Fighting debut to Josh Sampo in September at Legacy FC 14, and then drew with Rafael de Freitas at LFC 18. He hopes to get back on track against Ozkilic, who is a grinder and wrestler that has trouble finishing fights. Winning this would be huge for Ozkilic, as Banuelos would be by far his biggest win. The pressure is on Antonio to finally string some wins back together.
