Just eight Fridays into the new year, and the new Legacy Fighting Alliance is already on their fifth event. The amalgamation of Legacy FC and RFA has allowed for a much more packed schedule than either promotion could manage on their own, and should help them develop momentum throughout the year. LFA 5 will be the first visit to old RFA stomping grounds in Broomfield, Colorado and the main event features a pair of action-oriented lightweight RFA holdovers. Marcus Edwards has actually competed for both RFA and Legacy, in addition to former AXS TV promotion MFC. If he ends up on the East Coast in CES, he’ll have hit for the AXS TV cycle. Wherever Edwards goes though, the theme is the same. He has 11 finishes in his 12 career wins, and rarely produces a boring fight. Townsend is similar, scoring 12 stoppages in 16 wins. The big difference in their records is that Townsend has never been finished, while Edwards has been TKO’d in his last two losses. The co-main event on this card features undefeated Cory Sandhagen taking on Jamall Emmers in the featherweight division. Sandhagen’s grappling game has looked strong early in his career, scoring two submission wins and three decisions in his unblemished record thus far. Emmers faced a tough RFA debut back in June of 2016, getting an immediate title shot at lightweight against Thiago Moises, where he survived until the fifth round before getting stopped. Dropping down to featherweight, he picked up a win against Rivaldo Junior just eight weeks later. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting odds for the top two fights on LFA 5 today at Several Bookmakers. Check them out below: ——————– MAIN CARD (AXS TV, 10pm ET) Marcus Edwards -120 Adam Townsend -120 Cory Sandhagen -170 Jamall Emmers +130 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: Edwards has been just shy of the UFC-level for quite some time. His four career losses have come to three UFC veterans (Pat Healy, Shane Campbell, and Efrain Escudero) and Justin Gaethje. His aggression simply overwhelms most opponents, and he only starts to struggle against fighters who are significantly bigger, more skilled, or simply incredibly durable. While Townsend has fought as high as middleweight in the past, he’ll actually be the smaller guy in here, so Edwards won’t have to worry about getting smothered. What could be a real concern for Edwards however is Townsend’s durability. If Edwards doesn’t get him out of there inside the first round, he’s going to start to fade, while Townsend picks up steam. I actually think that’s a very likely scenario, so I’ll be siding with Townsend despite the clear danger in this matchup. Not being particularly familiar with Emmers, I was decently impressed by him during his RFA title bout. Still, I think this is a very difficult stylistic matchup for him, and expect Sandhagen to get him down where he can set up in top position. It probably won’t be the most thrilling performance, but I still think Sandhagen gets the job done and moves to 6-0.
