Mick Maynard and his Legacy crew did something on Friday night that no one in the state of Texas had been able to do before. Legacy Muay Thai made its debut here in Houston on Friday making it the first sanctioned Amateur Muay Thai event held in Texas, and what a debut it was. The house was packed at Stereo Live on Richmond and the crowd was treated to a night full of excitement

There were many great moments during the fights, so I decided to recap a few of my favorites.

Akira Smith put on a show during his decision win over Alexis Charrarvia.  Akira showed some great kicks and amazing spinning elbows.

John Malbrough and Patrick Bierschwale showed the crowd that two MMA boys can compete in Muay Thai as well with some great striking and wonderful sportsmanship all night. John won the decision avenging his loss to Patrick in an earlier MMA fight.

Cody Phillips was dominating in his decision win over Alex Black. Cody showed great technique along with tons of power but could not finish Alex, whose heart would not let him quit.

Peter Sprajc made a return to his old self with a TKO victory over Mike Castillo. Peter showed some beautiful sweeps as Castillo spent the majority of the fight on his butt. It was great to see the aggressive Peter return.

Seventeen year old Matt Wald showed the best striking of the night with his TKO victory over Josh Ramirez. Matt showed early and often that he is a force to be reckoned with as he picked apart Josh with brutal strikes and painful body kicks that repeatedly dropped his opponent. Referee Joe Soliz stepped in and stopped the fight as there was no need for Josh to take any more punishment.

Jessica Castillio and Jhin Yu went three brutal rounds with the two ladies throwing more knees than any other fight on the card. These two battled it out for three rounds with Jessica earning a decision win.

I spoke with a very happy Mick Maynard who said “It was a great show and I hope everyone had a good time. We are looking at June for the next show, and I look forward to bringing Muay Thai to Texas more often.”

This was a great event that all the fighters and fans enjoyed. The city of Houston has some great Muay Thai practitioners, and it is nice to see they finally have a place to showcase their ability. Legacy Muay Thai is here to stay, and I cannot wait for the next one.

• Joey Stumbler vs S Hebert ends with a decision for Joey Stumblers. 3 round battle with neither Guy backing down
• Jessica Castillo vs Jhin Yu winner by decision is Castillo. Tough war for three rounds..brutal knees from both the entire fight
• Akira Smith vs Alexis charravia Winner by split decision Akira Smith. Fight was full of spinning kicks and flying elbows by Akira
• Brandon Franco vs Brannen Jones Winner by KO Brannen Jones. Franco wilted quick under a barrage of strikes…went down twice
• Roxanne Cardona vs Roxy Adams Winner by decision Cardova. Great fight. . Slugfest
• Evan guiterrez vs Noel Ligon Winner by decision Noel. Most technical Fight so far
• Malbrough vs Bierschwale Winner by decision Malbrough. These two Mma boys put on a show
• Alex Black vs Cody Phillips Winner by decision Cody Phillips. Fight of the night so far.Phillips showed great offense and alex showed heart
• Mike Castillo vs Peter Å prajc Winner by TKO Peter. Peter dominated the standup
• Josh Ramirez vs Matt Wald Winner by ref stoppage tko Matt Wald. the 17 yr old dominated his opponent with the best striking of all night
• Nethaneel Mongoni vs Craig Gardner Winner by decision Craig Gardner. Very close split decision. ..very technical match

More pictures from the fights (click on a picture to view it full sized):