Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California was the destination of the 16th iteration of Lights Out Xtreme Fighting, hosted by Shawne Merriman. The former All-Pro NFL Linebacker has more than just dipped his toes into the world of MMA promotion, he has dove right in, and LXF16 showed the fruit of such commitment.
Headlined by a 3-round Flyweight Championship match between The Goat Shed’s Roybert “The Unbroken” Echeverria and Pablo “El Killer” Caballero, Lights Out really had all the bells and whistles of a high-tier MMA production.
Here are 3 highlights from Lights Out Xtreme Fighting 16:
A Razor-Thin Main Event
The showdown between Echeverria and Caballero seemed to be ultimately decided by output vs. efficacy. Caballero threw significantly more strikes, but Echeverria landed more signifcant strikes from my vantage point. In my mind, the fight was decided by these categories:
- Cage Control
- Striking
- Aggression
Grappling wasn’t necessarily on display during this fight, it ended up being more of a stand-up battle. Cage Control was certainly in favor of Echeverria, given he controlled and maintained the center of the cage for nearly the entire fight, save a few moments.
Striking could have gone either way, as I mentioned previously, but the standout moment was a glancing left hand from Caballero that dropped “The Unbroken” in round 1. This would be the most significant strike landed in the fight.
Each round looked similar one to another, with Caballero outputting a lot of strikes and circling around the cage while Roybert searched for the bigger, more impactful strikes in the center of the cage.
Correa vs. Peña
The co-main event was another fight that could have gone either way between Eugene “Conquistador” Correa and Chris “Mata Leon” Peña for the interim title. Peña came into the fight giving up 8 inches of reach, having a 68″ reach compared to Correa’s 76″. In the first round, the reach was on full display, with “Mata Leon” struggling to find openings on the inside.
Round 2 was a different story. The download was near complete and Peña began to land strikes, pressuring forward and utilizing great head movement to get on the inside of his much longer opponent. So far, going into the 3rd, it was an even match.
Both men did what they could to edge out round 3, with Correa opening up a bit more in certain spots and Peña continuing to pressure forward and try to find openings to damage Eugene Correa. Both men had their moments, and my co-commentator Blake “Bulletproof” Troop and I disagreed off-air who we thought won the fight.
In my eyes, Peña did enough, in Blake’s eyes, it was a just decision. This, if anything, goes to show how close this fight was. If Correa decides against retiring, which he hinted at on his instagram, I’d love to see a rematch sometime soon between these two (even though this match was for the interim title.)
Eddie Bernal Retires Early in Front of Home Crowd
Young, talented, promising – these are most certainly words that could describe Eddie Bernal of Ace Jiu-Jitsu. He matched up with Steven Almeida, a well-rounded striker who displayed an improved proficiency in the grappling department. However, it wasn’t enough to combat Bernal’s offense, as Eddie was able to secure a unanimous decision victory in what he felt was an “off-day” in his post-fight interview with Bonnie-Jill Laflin.
A staggering amount of people showed up to Thunder Studios specifically to see Mr. Bernal perform, and much to their pleasure he was able to secure a win, but then he would do something no one would expect out of an up-and-coming 25 year-old: he retired from MMA.
He remarked that he wanted to focus on coaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which is where he experiences the emotions he isn’t feeling competing in the cage. He followed with a profound statement, that not having that hunger to compete in MMA puts you in further danger of getting hurt.
Although unexpected, I certainly understand where he is coming from. If this truly the end of his MMA career, then I truly wish him all the best and look forward to seeing him lead the next generation of athletes towards accomplishing their goals.
Coming Up Next
Lights Out XF was an experience. To be there live is an engaging rollercoaster with all the twists and turns of live entertainment. The athletes always show up, the production value is fantastic, and the personalities working to produce the show are genuinely passionate people. Shawne has certainly done a great job bringing together a talented and hardworking team of professionals to be a part of the vision of LXF.
The next Lights Out XF is LXF17, and it will be featured at Casino Pauma in San Diego, California. Tune in LIVE on the Lights Out Sports TV app available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, the App Store and Google Play store, as well as online at https://www.lightsoutsportstv.com/
You may also tune in to the latest episode of The Open GuardCast where I covered LXF16!
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