Damon Jackson said he wouldn’t touch gloves with Luis Luna before their fight, so when the opening bell rang Jackson went straight for Luna’s face – with his foot.

The immediate front-kick attempt set the tone for the grudge match between the rival lightweights, which ended in a submission win for Jackson in the LFA 28 headliner at The Bomb Factory in Dallas.

It’s the second time Jackson (13-2-1) has defeated Luna (14-7) as the two first met in April 2013 at a local show in West Texas. Things got ugly that night when after Jackson landed an illegal knee. When the fight was restarted, Jackson went to touch gloves, but Luna pounced and came over the top with a right hand that dropped Jackson. To Jackson, that was a cheap shot, and the two came into their rematch Friday with animosity toward each other.

Which explains Jackson’s immediate attempt to kick Luna in the face.

From there, Jackson landed a straight right that staggered Luna. Jackson followed up with a takedown, stacking Luna against the cage as he tried for a choke. Luna managed to escape and get back to his feet, though Jackson was relentless to get him back down to mat. Jackson succeeded, but Luna popped back up moments later.

Back on their feet, Jackson continued to display impressive boxing and dropped Luna with a hard left hook. Jackson pounced and dropped bombs on Luna, who was clearly dazed. Jackson took down Luna one last time, which signaled the beginning of the end. Jackson wasted no time sinking in a rear-naked choke and got the tap 4:58 into the first round.

The win not only settled the grudge for Jackson. It also kept his hopes alive of returning to the UFC, where he went 0-1-1 with a no-contest from 2014 to 2016. Jackson has since won four of fight fights with LFA.

Menifield batters ‘Javali’ to remain undefeated

There was zero feeling-out process between Alonzo Menifield and Jose Otavio dos Santos Lacerda. They went straight to war right off the bat.

In a fitting conclusion for a violent fight, Menifield (5-0) likely broke “Javali’s” (9-5) nose before winning by TKO in the second round of their light heavyweight bout.

The two fighters had a wild exchange in the opening moments before Menifield scored a takedown and got side control. Menifield controlled Round 1 on the ground, mostly with vicious ground-and-pound. The frame concluded with Menifield raining elbows on “Javali’s” head and face.

In Round 2, Menifield came out with a powerful combo, landing a straight right hand that likely broke “Javali’s” nose. Menefiled used the punching combo to set up a takedown. “Javali” turned to his stomach and simply covered up as Menifield pounded away, leading to the referee stoppage just 32 seconds in.

The latest LFA 28 results include:

• Damon Jackson def. Luis Luna via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:58
• Alonzo Menifield def. Jose Otavio dos Santos Lacerda via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:32
• Miles Johns def. Caio Machado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Steven Peterson def. Dustin Winter via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:38
• Nikolay Veretennikov def. Melvin Jordan via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:00
• Ramiz Brahimaj def. Ben Simons via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:13
• Ricky Esquibel def. Cameron Miller via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:21

For more on LFA 28, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

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