Jump To
Last weekend’s Legacy Fighting Alliance 160 featured a shocking twist in the action during a lightweight match. Early into the third round of a fight between young prospect Josiah Harrell and Michael Roberts, Harrell shot for a double leg takedown—pushing his opponent to the fence, where he hoped to drive him to the mat. Things did not go as planned however.
Cage Malfunction at LFA 160
As it happened, the ‘Muscle Hamster’ drove his opponent square into the cage door, which popped open on impact. Roberts was essentially speared out of the cage and into the crowd. The action had to be briefly stopped, as you can see in video below:
Surprisingly enough, however, that incident was not the end of the match. Once both men returned to the cage and staff got the door locked, the fight was resume for the athletes to finish out the third round. The lightweights would not go the distance, though, as Josiah Harrell managed to catch Michael Roberts with a head kick and then a flurry of punches to knock down his opponent and secure a TKO victory with some ground and pound.
Check out the finishing sequence in the video below:
Past cage door mishaps
Surprising as what happened at LFA 160 was, this is not the first time fighters have fallen through the cage door in the middle of a match. For instance, in 2016, UFC lightweight veteran Joe Lauzon posted a video on his official Instagram account showing a match in which one of his teammates and his opponents fell in a manner similar to Harrell and Roberts.
Different from last weekend, though, Lauzon himself explained that the match was not allowed to continue after the incident and ruled a No Contest. In his Instagram post, he explained that one of the athletes had suffered alleged rib injuries that prevented him from returning.
“Not a good night for one of my fighters. Through the gate and onto the floor. No contest. My fighter was okay but the other guy went to the hospital for (I think) his ribs.” Lauzon wrote.
And of course, who can forget that classic moment from UFC 3 when Emmanuel Yarborough sent Keith Hackney through the unsecured Octagon door with one well timed shove.
Back at Strikeforce: Revenge in 2006, a fight between Bobby Southworth and James Irvin ended just 17 seconds into the first round, when Southworth slammed Irvin into the door, spilling both fighters out of the cage and onto the arena ramp, injuring Irvin’s knee in the process.
Lighweight fighter Josiah Harrel is still undefeated
The win at LFA 160 kept Josiah Harrell (7-0-1) undefeated in his professional career. The 24-year-old prospect currently holds six finishes in seven victories, with four knockouts, three submissions and just one win via decision.
Meanwhile, the loss to Harrell left Michael Roberts (8-9) with an under .500 professional record and on a two-fight skid, with a unanimous decision loss to Dedrek Anders before this one, in December 2022. The 35-year-old’s last victory dates back to August 2022, when he defeated Jeremy Castro via submission.
Interestingly enough, Roberts has also fought some UFC veterans in his career, having lost to Mike Perry, Khama Worthy and Jason Knight. However, ‘Magic Mike’ also scored a win against Knight, in July 2012, via unanimous decision.
You know you can count on us for quick, consistent quality UFC coverage. Bloody Elbow is an independent, reader supported publication. Please subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with our best work and learn how you can support the site.
Join the new Bloody Elbow
Our Substack is where we feature the work of writers like Zach Arnold, John Nash and Karim Zidan. We’re fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. Please help us by subscribing today.
About the author
