Leonard Garcia

By Michael Hatamoto

Leonard Garcia recently signed with the regional MMA promotion Legacy Fighting Championship, and should provide an interesting chance to see what he has left in the gas tank.

Legacy FC immediately matched him up with Rey Trujillo, a mid-tier fighter holding a 14-10 record – 10 wins by KO/TKO, and it’s obvious Legacy wants to see a standup war. Both featherweights have a tendency to swing for the fences and look for a crowd-pleasing knockout or TKO, so we’ll see what happens when both fighters step in the cage together.

The fight is scheduled for Legacy FC 21 in Houston, Texas, on July 19, with a main event of Matt Hobar vs. Angel Huerta for the vacant featherweight championship. Garcia hopes to rack up a few wins and try to get back into the UFC octagon sooner rather than later – and I think that’s possible if he can find some success.

Trujillo currently has a two-fight win streak – and fought for Strikeforce once in 2010, winning by TKO in 28 seconds against Jose Santibanez. Garcia will be the hardest test for the 31-year-old brawler, and it will be a great fight for fans in attendance.

I don’t have anything against the Greg Jackson-trained fighter who said he will split time between Jackson’s camp and Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Calif. Garcia has a brash fight style and has fought in the UFC and WEC 17 times during a six-year span, but was released after a disappointing five-fight losing streak (which could be eight-fight losing streak as he won two close split decisions).