Riehle Brothers Tavern, a bar in a converted warehouse with a little bit of an outlaw atmosphere, hosted LFC 21: Redemption as the Legends of Fighting Championship invaded Lafayette, Indiana on Saturday night. The headline fight was supposed to be the highly anticipated rematch between UFC veteran Chris “The Exorcist” Price and Jeremiah “Wood” Adriano. Unfortunately, either because of job issues or personal reasons, Price had to withdraw from the event, leaving comparatively unknown Ohio wrestler Chris Canale to take his place in the headline bout.

The preliminary fights alternated between close contests and total annihilations. In the opener, Donald Hoover took quick control over Dustin Dennison, shooting immediately for the takedown, then passing effortlessly from Dennison’s guard to side control. After Dennison weakly gave up his back, Hoover locked in a rear naked choke and secured a tapout victory just 42 seconds into the first round.

The second fight was an evenly-matched contest with a disappointing ending, as Howard Clark faced off against Brad “Powerhouse” Purcell. The contest opened with an exchange of strikes. After Clark landed a solid connection, Purcell shot in for the takedown and eventually gained side control, only to see Clark power out of the bad position. Back in standup, Clark landed another good shot and tried unsuccessfully to shoot. Both fighters looked gassed as the first round ended. As the second round was about to begin, Clark (who has “Never Give Up” tattooed on his chest) indicated he could not continue. Clark’s lack of fight prompted a hail of boos as Purcell was declared the winner.

In the third fight, Cody Abercrombie never seemed to have a chance against the much stronger Mike Taylor. The opening seconds saw Taylor land a leg lick and immediately take down Abercrombie to side control. From there Taylor took full mount and punished Abercrombie with strikes. Taylor briefly gave up the mount as Abercrombie reversed into Taylor’s guard, but Taylor never lost control, locking in a straight armbar and forcing Abercrombie to signal his submission just 1:27 into the first round.

In the best preliminary fight of the night, Brandon Plore took on Marcus Smith. The fighters remained on their feet for most of the first round, during which Plore seemed to land the better shots. However, as the fight went to the mat late in the round, Smith gained side control but couldn’t do anything with it before the round ended. After a clinch against the cage to open the second round, Smith gained a takedown only to find himself having to fight off a guillotine choke. Smith was able to escape the potentially dangerous position and rain bombs down on Plore from within Plore’s guard, then sit back and work for an anklelock as the second round ended. Sensing his opponent weakening from the damage inflicted, Smith opened the third round by shooting for a takedown and landing a couple of shots. Plore attempted to set up an armbar but didn’t have the strength remaining to pull it off. With increasing confidence, Smith took side control and set up for a straight armbar. Plore tried to defend but Smith softened him up with some devastating head shots, which left Plore helpless to defend as Smith extended the arm and forced Plore to submit. Smith gained a hard fought victory by armbar at 1:29 in the third round.

In stark contrast, the last two preliminary fights of the evening each saw a clearly superior fighter dominate his opponent. Tom Osborne was never once threatened by Jeff Hellman, as Osborne took down his opponent and unleashed severe punishment that left Hellman completely laid out, gaining Osborne a knockout victory just 47 seconds into the fight. In the next fight, Joel Blanton made equally short work of his opponent, quickly taking Jason Powell down and gaining full mount. Rather than absorb punishment, Powell gave up his back and Blanton, like an anaconda, locked on to his prey and sunk in a rear naked choke. With Powell tapping out and his legs flailing helplessly, Blanton held the choke and earned a submission victory just 49 seconds into the fight.

In the headline fight of the night, Chris Canale stepped in for Chris Price to take on Jeremiah “Wood” Adriano. Adriano enjoyed pervasive fan support on this night, as the crowd was filled with family, friends and fans wearing shirts reading “Wood is Good.” Seemingly overmatched, Canale nevertheless put up a good fight. Although Adriano stuffed Canale’s early shoot attempt, the fight went to the ground with Canale in half-guard and looking to land elbows. As Adriano defended, Canale gained full mount and then rear control, but Adriano was able to escape. Adriano gained control of the fight up against the cage but was penalized for an illegal blow. Unfazed, Adriano took the fight back to the fence and landed a couple good shots as the first round ended. In the second round, Adriano stuffed another takedown attempt. Canale worked out of inferior north-south position back to a clinch against the cage. Adriano sought a single-leg takedown but Canale stuffed it. After another brief grappling exchange ended up back in standup, Adriano landed a devastating left kick to Canale’s head that immediately dropped Canale. Adriano landed two more punches to his downed opponent before the ref intervened, giving Adriano a TKO victory 1:57 into the second round.

Legends of Fighting will return to Indianapolis in just three weeks, featuring a bitter grudge match between Johnny Rees and Jeremy Wingler. LFC 22 will be at 8 Seconds Saloon on November 30, 2007.