Darabedyan returns with second-round sub win at LFA 13
BURBANK — It was a chance for Karen Darabedyan not only to come back, but to state his case that he still very much belongs in the major leagues of mixed martial arts.
For Antonio Menifield, it was an opportunity to seize the spotlight bestowed upon him.
On Friday evening inside the confines of the Los Angeles-Burbank Marriott Convention Center under the banner of the Legacy Fighting Alliance and the bright lights of AXS TV, glory was had for Glendale’s Darabedyan in the form of a slick second-round submission win over late replacement Sam Liera, while Menifield continued to draw notice with a striking barrage that ended the night for Khadzhi Bestaev in the first round.
“I thought I had the upper hand on him,” Darabedyan said during the live in-cage interview at the LFA 13 event. “I was confident in my skills.”
Darabedyan, who primarily trains at Team Hayastan and Glendale’s Main Event Gym, improved to 13-6 with a second-round rear-naked choke submission of Liera (12-10) at 1:46 in the night’s co-main event. The win for Darabedyan, a Glendale High product, came 364 days removed from his last bout, which was a knockout loss that put continuing his fighting career in jeopardy. There was no such bad fortune on Friday, though, as Darabedyan announced he wanted to drop from the 170-pound welterweight class he fought at to 145 pounds (he primarily fought previously at 155 pounds) and wanted to return in July.
Darabedyan was cautious at the onset, his first striking attempt an inside leg kick. As Liera became the aggressor, Darabedyan seemed content to box, but Liera was always first to get off. Liera eventually began to land some leg kicks as the two exchanged jabs and occasional right crosses. Darabedyan finally went in for a takedown and wrestled Liera down against the cage and moved into half-guard. Liera went for a leg lock and Darabedyan sat down for one of his own, but couldn’t sink it in.
“I didn’t quite have the position there,” Darabedyan, 30, said.
Darabedyan moved into top control with just more than a minute left. Gaining full mount, Darabedyan went back and forth between that and back control, landing good rights here and there before Liera swept him and got back to the feet. Liera landed a good right just as the bell rang.
To commence the second, Darabedyan tossed a jab out and went for a takedown, which he briefly secured before Liera bounced up only for Darabedyan to take him right back down. Working quickly into half-guard, Darabedyan picked his shots as Liera scrambled well from the bottom. Darabedyan stood up and landed a few punches before putting his head down and dropping back into top control and the mount. Liera rolled to his stomach and then to his back and then to his stomach where Darabedyan sunk in a rear-naked choke and quickly earned the tapout.
“I’m trying to go back to my roots,” said Darabedyan, long lauded for his overall game as a prospect in MMA who has just missed out on the big time. “My strong points are my grappling.”
The 29-year-old Menifield (3-0), a former All-American linebacker at Glendale Community College in 2006, technically defeated 6-foot-6 Bestaev (4-2) via verbal submission due to strikes, but it was the punching power that led the way for Menifield once again.
“We came ready to put on a show,” said Menifield, who resides in Texas and won his first two bouts via knockout. “Hopefully we did that.”
There was a bit of confusion at the fight’s conclusion, but replays showed a huge right from Menifield landed under the eye of his opponent and brought on a verbal tapout.
“That was a good strike,” Menifield said while watching the television replay. “That was fantastic.”
There was nothing close to a feeling-out process in Menifield’s victory.
Menifield, who drew a large amount of media exposure leading up to the bout, came out with a left hook followed by a right cross and was swinging with violent intent.
Moments later, Bestaev slipped while throwing a low kick and Menifield followed him to the ground and was in Bestaev’s guard. Menifield pulled away and stood up and allowed Bestaev to stand. Menfield continued to throw with abandon, but Bestaev picked a leg and went for a takedown only for Menifeld to grapple once again into top position. And once again Menifield stood.
The foreshadowing of the end came when Menfield stung Bestaev with a straight right and Bestaev clinched and they went to the ground with Menifield landing shots. In top control for the third time, Menifield didn’t stand and landed his share of punches and hammerfists. Amid a barrage of ground and pound, Menifield landed a savage right-hand shot under Bestaev’s right eye and won via stoppage.
In the main event of the night, Curtis Millender (12-3) defeated Kevin Holland (9-3) via unanimous decision in LFA’s first foray into Burbank.
Opening up the TV broadcast, Arizona’s Kyler Phillips improved to 4-0 with a unanimous decision over Jonny Quiroz (2-2) of Long Beach in a bantamweight bout.
In the first of three light heavyweight tilts, Herdem Alcabek won his United States debut to improve to 3-0 with a first-round rear-naked choke tapout of Antonio Arroyo (4-2).
Submission ace Maikel Perez (4-1) of Huntington Beach won with a rear-naked choke at the 4-minute mark of the first round against Fullerton’s Trent Meaux (6-3).
In another 205-pound tilt, Victorville’s Dominick Reyes (6-0) scored the biggest highlight of the card when he followed a swarm of punches with a beautiful left high kick to the jaw that dropped Jordan Powell (8-7) face first in the first for a knockout at the 53-second mark.
In the card’s first bout, which was untelevised, Southern California fighting circuit veteran Dmirty Gerasimov (8-5) of Hawthorne won via Darce choke at the 3:21 mark of the opening round against Fabio Trinade (5-5) in a lightweight scrap in which Trinade, of Los Angeles, missed weight.
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
