Chris Brown Stops Steven Jones in LFA 121 Main Event

Hearts all over the world tonight... are happy with joy! Chris Brown gets it done! #LFA121 pic.twitter.com/nT9wE0ESja

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) January 15, 2022

Chris Brown turned a rather uneventful fight into an explosive finish in the blink of an eye as he finished Steven Jones in the third with a barrage of punches. The two men clashed in a 174 lb. catchweight battle in the main event of LFA 121 Friday night inside The Factory in Deep Ellum in Dallas, Texas, but it was Brown who had his hand raised when the dust settled.

Brown (8-3) had a difficult time landing any of his kicks or punches cleanly early on, as he used a tactical approach against his adversary. Jones (8-3) was looking to take the fight to the canvas throughout, but it was Brown’s power that paved the way toward victory. A left hook on the forehead early in the third wobbled Jones’ legs and when he stumbled down to the canvas, Brown pounced. Brown unloaded an endless storm of elbows and punches from on top and when Jones rolled over in a feeble attempt to survive, referee Aaron Menard had no choice but to pull Brown off, ending the contest just 64 seconds into the third.

Elijah Johns was dominant in the co-main event as he wore down Brandon Phillips over three rounds in a catchweight battle at 151 pounds. Johns (8-2) scored multiple takedowns and controlled the pace of the contest throughout, pulverizing Phillips (8-5) for the duration of the bout. Phillips tried to keep the fight on the feet and land his powerful strikes, but Johns, who missed weight on Thursday, used his superior wrestling to thwart it. Johns wound up winning handily via tallies of 30-27 (twice) and 30-26 to earn the unanimous nod.

Michael Cyr was a rather large underdog entering his contest with fellow-unbeaten bantamweight prospect Alden Coria and came out the victor via spectacular submission. After a nip-and-tuck first two rounds that were largely fought on the feet, Cyr went for broke in the third and was relentless with his submission game. “The Mullet” missed a guillotine and then, after a scramble, locked Coria (5-1) in a twister. After failing to sink the rare sub, Cyr switched to a rear-naked choke attempt whilst still torquing the twister. Coria escaped the attacks but when he rolled over onto his belly, Cyr (4-0) immediately sunk in a textbook rear-naked choke and forced his foe to bow out. The end came officially at 3:20 of the third frame.

After having been away for more than two years, bantamweight Isaiah Gutierrez weathered an early storm to submit Keeton Gorton in the second. Gorton dropped Gutierrez with a right hook to the jaw in the first and dominated his foe in the opening frame, but the Texan changed the tides in the following stanza. Gutierrez (7-1) went right after Gorton (6-6) and took him down, and when Gorton powered back up to his feet, Gutierrez locked in a guillotine and forced the tap, ending the fracas at 1:28 of the second.

Glory Kickboxing veteran Anvar Boynazarov (3-0) barely broke a sweat when he bludgeoned fellow featherweight John Pham in just 21 seconds. Boynazarov rocked Pham (4-2) with a knee to the face and then promptly finished him off with follow-up punches, knocking him cold against the cage as referee Menard rushed in to stop it.

Former LSU footballer Jakori Savage lived up to his name in his pro MMA debut with a terrific first-round stoppage win over Moustapha Senghor. Savage rocked his foe with elbows on the feet and when he wound up on top of Senghor (2-1) late in the first after a wild scramble, he unloaded a ton of strikes until referee Birchie Stillwagoner had no choice but to intervene. The end came at 3:53 of the first, giving the 2019 National Champion the TKO win.