The leg of Ovince Saint Preux of Knoxville, Tenn. cracks the right wrist of Sao Paulo, Brazil's Claudio Godoy during a light heavyweight contest at the D.C. Armory in Northeast. Godoy retired from the bout when his wrist was injured. Photos by John E. De FreitasThe co-feature saw one of MMA’s rising stars – middleweight Jordan Smith of Salt Lake City, UT – remain undefeated with a unanimous decision win over Rio de Janeiro’s Gustavo Machado. This was a battle of strikers that was a close contest until late in the third round when Smith caught Machado with a right uppercut that sent Machado to the mats. White tried to wrap up the submission but ran out of time. Smith is now 12-0 while Machado is 18-8-1.
Local MMA fighters were on the card but were not successful -- losing majority decisions. Light heavyweight Manny Okorie of Rockville, Md. (0-2) lost to debuting Matt Van Buren of Virginia Beach, Va. Also, featherweight Francisco Salgueriro, who made his pro debut, fell to Las Vegas, Nevada’s Peter Simone, who also fought as a pro for the first time.
In another featherweight contest, D.C. native Jahmal McLennan (3-2) lost in a third-round TKO to Virginia Beach’s Chris Buckner, who remains undefeated at 3-0. Currently, McLennan fights out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Gustavo Machado of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil tries to avoid the kicks of Jordan Smith of Salt Lake City, Utah during the co-feature bout at the "Battle of the Legends" MMA card, Sat., May 15 at the D.C. Armory in Northeast. White remains undefeated with a unanimous decision victory. Photos by John E. De FreitasGabriel Migloli of Sao Paulo, Brazil (2-0) won by third-round stoppage over John George of Las Vegas, Nev. (2-1) in a lightweight contest.
Light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux of Knoxville, Tenn. (6-4) defeated Claudio Godoy of Sao Paulo (6-8) when Godoy suffered an injury to his right wrist in the third round and could not continue.
Featherweight Marco Galvao (7-3-1) of New York City won by tap out over David Derby of Outer Banks, N.C. (5-4).
This was the first card promoted by a local company, Washington Combat. The event was also supported and co-hosted by the Washington Convention and Sports Authority.
