Gregory Rodrigues Claims Middleweight Gold via Vicious KO in LFA 108 Main Event

Rodrigues with the 1st rd KO for the belt #LFA108 pic.twitter.com/eT8rPWh8UU

— Hands like Nnganou (@likennganou) May 22, 2021

Gregory Rodrigues is the new Legacy Fighting Alliance middleweight champion.

Josh Fremd opened the LFA 108 main event by firing hard shots at Rodrigues (9-3), which wound up being a mistake. Moments into the fight, "Robocop" rocked Fremd (7-2) badly, who continued to trade with the Brazilian. However, a beautiful 1-2 combination ended Fremd's night, and a walk-off KO at the 2:20 mark cemented Rodrigues' title win.

In the co-main event, undefeated flyweight prospect Mark Climaco put on a grappling clinic against Rodney Kealohi, but "The Captain" refused to go away easily. Despite Climaco (6-0) looking for submissions, Kealohi (5-2) battled out of rear-naked chokes to stay in the fight. After three rounds of dominant grappling, the judges awarded Climaco the win with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

Ernesto Ancona put on a striking display against Tyler Ray early in their welterweight fight. Ancona (3-1) bloodied up Ray (8-2) with sharp punches that damaged the face of "Wolverine." The pressure of "Chingon" stayed steady through three rounds, although Ray was able to have success in grappling exchanges. Ultimately, the judges preferred the grappling of Ray, which led to him receiving a unanimous decision with three 29-28 scorecards in his favor.

Strawweights Kathryn Paprocki and Tiani Valle had a bloody scrap. Both women had their moments on the feet, but Paprocki (3-1) displayed a dominant ground game that kept Valle (3-3) on the bottom of their grappling exchanges. Ultimately, Paprocki was able to sink in a rear-naked choke that forced Valle unconscious at 4:01 of Round 3.

Clayton Carpenter picked up a quick submission win over Nick Clem. Carpenter locked in a kneebar that forced Clem (3-2) to tap just 45 seconds into the fight. With the victory, Carpenter advances to 4-0.

Amateur wrestling standout Bryce Meredith made an impressive mixed martial arts debut against Steven Merrill. However, it wasn't all easy as he was clipped by Merrill (5-7) on the feet and then had to fight off a tight guillotine choke. Meredith (1-0) stayed composed and was able to deliver damaging ground and pound until referee Aaron Menard called the fight off at 3:35 of Round 1.

In the professional preliminary bouts, Kenan Jackson (2-0) won a unanimous decision over Blayne Richards (3-2) with scores of 30-26, 30-27 and 29-28 in his favor; Bailey Schoenfelder (1-0) scored a quick 20 second TKO over James Munoz (0-1); and Archie Colgan (2-0) submitted Keith Phathaem (2-3-1) with an arm-triangle choke at 4:53 of Round 1.