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 present and future of pro Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) converged during a Washington Combat-promoted “Battle of the Legends” card at the D.C. Armory in Northeast, Sat. May 15.
The main event saw veteran heavyweight Pedro Rizzo of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil defeat Toronto, Canada’s Gary Goodridge after two rounds when Goodridge could not come out for the third round. Rizzo was able to use sound jiu-jitsu and grappling techniques to defeat his taller opponent. Rizzo has a won-loss record of 18-9 while Goodridge falls to 23-21-1.
The 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.