Undefeated Hyder Amil Stops Chase Gibson in Legacy Fighting Alliance 137 Headliner

HYDER AMIL WITH THE COMEBACK WIN!!!!#LFA137 pic.twitter.com/mIeuRVfTWe

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 30, 2022

Hyder Amil looks like a significant problem for the rest of the Legacy Fighting Alliance featherweight division, so long as another organization does not call his number sooner.

The undefeated Gilbert Melendez protégé cut down Chase Gibson with punches in the second round of their LFA 137 headliner on Friday at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California. Amil (7-0, 3-0 LFA) brought it to a close 11 seconds into Round 2, delivering his second finish in three outings with the Ed Soares-led promotion.

A back-and-forth first round was marked by wild swings in momentum. Amil twice tripped his opponent to the mat after pinning kicks to his body. However, Gibson made the more convincing argument, as he executed a takedown, progressed to the back, secured position with a body triangle and later threatened with a standing rear-naked choke. Amil withstood his serious brush with adversity, pushed the bout to a second round and capitalized on the opportunity. He backed Gibson to the fence and let fly with a hellacious multi-punch burst, leveling the California Mixed Martial Arts product with a searing right hook. Gibson’s legs folded underneath him, and though he appeared to regain consciousness as soon as he hit the canvas, a few follow-up punches led referee Frank Trigg to intervene.

In the bantamweight co-main event, Upstate Karate representative John Sweeney outstruck Ricardo Dias to a split decision across three rounds at 135 pounds. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28, two of them siding with Sweeney (11-3, 3-0 LFA).

Dias (10-6, 2-2 LFA) was effective in spurts but struggled to establish a rhythm. Sweeney switched stances seamlessly, fired off leg kicks, countered at opportune times and leaned heavily on his hands. He resorted to taunting in a clear effort to draw Dias out of his shell and force a mistake. The Kings MMA-trained Brazilian ignored the shenanigans and did his best work in Round 3, where he upped his output, dropped an off-balance Sweeney with a right hand and fished for a heel hook. However, he never truly turned a corner. Sweeny powered into mount in the closing seconds of the match, flurried with ground-and-pound and settled for the decision.

The 27-year-old Sweeny has strung together five straight wins since his July 2020 technical knockout loss to current Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight Cody Durden.

Meanwhile, former King of the Cage champion Darren Smith Jr. put away the favored Jacob Rosales with punches in the second round of their catchweight attraction at 160 pounds. Smith (18-12, 1-0 LFA) drew the curtain 3:56 into Round 2.

Rosales (13-8, 2-3 LFA) rolled the dice, engaged an experienced short-notice replacement in a firefight and paid a steep price. Smith rocked the Dana White’s Contender Series alum with a sweeping right hook in the second round, gave chase with follow-up punches and pinned him to the fence. Rosales retreated to his back but found no refuge there. Smith sensed the end was near, hit the accelerator and unleashed a burst of hammerfists to prompt the stoppage.

Smith, 35, will enter his next assignment on the strength of back-to-back victories.

Elsewhere, California Mixed Martial Arts prospect Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani submitted the previously unbeaten Caleb Hall with a scarf hold armlock in the first round of their lightweight feature. Hall (4-1, 0-1 LFA)—who missed weight for the match by more than five pounds—conceded defeat 1:21 into Round 1.

Lebosnoyani (5-1, 4-0 LFA) cut loose with a flying knee at the start, crashed down on an attempted guillotine and transitioned to multiple chokes before settling in side control. From there, he controlled Hall’s head, isolated the arm between his legs, torqued the elbow beyond its bounds and coaxed the tapout.

The 23-year-old Lebosnoyani has won three fights in a row, all via first-round submission.

Finally, CSW export Javier Garcia submitted Leandro Gomes with a last-second rear-naked choke in the first round of their featherweight showcase. The 30-year-old Garcia (9-5, 4-2 LFA) brought it to a close 4:59 into Round 1.

Gomes (6-3, 3-2 LFA) struck for a takedown inside the first 90 seconds but failed to consolidate his efforts with damage or positional advances. Garcia swept into top position late in the first period, applied his ground-and-pound and ultimately transitioned to the back with his counterpart in a kneeling position. He cinched the choke, engaged the hips and let his squeeze do the heavy lifting. Garcia tried to stay alive until the bell sounded but chose to raise the white flag of surrender in a dramatic turn of events.

Garcia has rattled off five wins across his past seven appearances.

In other action, Mark Climaco (7-1, 3-1 LFA) took a unanimous verdict from Cody Davis (5-1, 1-1 LFA) in a three-round flyweight encounter, drawing 30-27 scores from all three cageside judges; and Daniel Compton (8-3, 1-0 LFA) upset Billy Elekana (4-1, 2-1 LFA) by split decision—29-28, 28-29, 29-28—in a three-round middleweight pairing.