Bantamweight Thomas Almeida (17-0) now boasts in incredible 15 first-round finishes following a stunning TKO of Caio Machado (4-1) to claim Legacy FC’s vacant bantamweight belt.

The contest served as the headlining matchup of Friday’s Legacy FC 32 event, which took place at Horseshoe Bossier City Hotel in Bossier City, La. The night’s main card aired in North America on AXS TV.

Almeida was the quicker fighter on the feet throughout the opening round, and he bounced in and out of range while looking to set a rhythm. When he finally settled in, the result was absolutely lethal.

A right hand over the top brought his opponent’s hands to his face, at which point Almeida delivered a crushing left to the liver. A right low kick followed, but Machado was already falling to the floor to cover up his wounded body.

The end came with 43 seconds left in the opening round.

In the night’s co-feature, Derrick Krantz (15-8) snapped a two-fight losing streak with an impressive first-round submission win over four-time UFC veteran Kyle Bradley (18-10).

Things weren’t necessarily going Krantz’s way in the early going, as Bradley was an ample adversary on the feet. But when things hit the floor late in the opening frame, Krantz wasted little time transitioning to the back, flattening out his opponent and scoring the victory via rear-naked choke.

Mai, Henry pick up finishes in early main-card action

In flyweight action, Klayton Mai (6-1) looked sharp on the feet in the opening frame but ultimately finished Matt Schnell (2-2) on the floor in the second. Aggressive from the beginning, Mai hurt Schnell on the feet with a crisp left hand but then pounced on his wounded prey with a guillotine, dropped to the floor and earned a tap 64 seconds in the second frame.

In a middleweight matchup, Quintin Henry (8-2) and Nicholas Jackson (2-1) went back-and-forth in an entertaining scrap, though it was Henry who got the best of the early exchanges. Yet when jackson finally got into top position and looked to be reversing his fortunes, his opponent turned beautifully for an armbar and scored a tapout victory with nine seconds left in the first round.

In an early welterweight matchup, Geoffrey Neal (4-1) scored a unanimous decision win over Christopher Anthony (2-1), 29-28 on all three cards.

In the night’s first main-card matchup, Tony Kelley (2-0) scored a rare technical-submission via shoulder choke win over Chris Pham (3-2). Adding to the wild nature of the finish, Pham was put to sleep with just two seconds left in the second round.

Official Legacy FC 32 results include:

MAIN CARD

Thomas Almeida def. Caio Machado via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 4:17 – for vacant bantamweight title

Derrick Krantz def. Kyle Bradley via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:44

Klayton Mai def. Matt Schnell via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 1:04

Quentin Henry def. Nicholas Jackson via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:51

Geoffrey Neal def. Christopher Anthony via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Tony Kelley def. Chris Pham via technical submission (shoulder choke) – Round 2, 4:58

PRELIMINARY CARD

Brandon Wayne Martin def. Jovon Roberson via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1

King Gladney def. John Clay via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1

For more on Legacy FC 32, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Thomas Almeida)