By Press Release

HOUSTON, Texas – Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) CEO Ed Soares announced earlier this month that LFA will host three consecutive weeks of LFA events in April. The third of the three will be LFA 10, which will be the second LFA event to take place in the state of Colorado. It will also be the tenth LFA event to take place after the strategic merger between leading developmental organizations Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) and Legacy Fighting Championship (Legacy FC).

The main event of LFA 10 will feature the long-awaited showdown between two top middleweights who were originally slated to tangle at LFA 5. The main event of LFA 10 will see undefeated blue-chip prospect Ian Heinisch finally lock horns with Brazilian powerhouse Lucas Rota. LFA 10 – Heinisch vs. Rota takes place Friday, April 21st at the Massari Arena in Pueblo, Colorado. The entire main card will be televised live and nationwide on AXS TV at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

“I am looking forward to bringing the LFA to southern Colorado,” stated Soares. “Ian Heinisch and Lucas Rota were originally scheduled to fight each other at LFA 5. They will finally get that chance on April 21st. They have been preparing to face each other for four months now, so it will be interesting to see all of that hard work on display in the main event of LFA 10.”

Tickets for LFA 10 – Heinisch vs. Rota are available for purchase NOW at CombatTickets.com.

Heinisch (7-0) signed a multi-fight deal with the LFA in early January. This came with plenty of fanfare due to Heinisch being widely regarded as one of the top middleweight prospects in the sport. He was set to make his LFA debut at LFA 5 in his home state of Colorado against Lucas Rota, but that debut was pushed back until April after the Factory X Muay Thai product sustained an injury on the week of the fight. Heinisch, a two-time Colorado state wrestling champion from Ponderosa High School, will now bring his perfect MMA record to the LFA Octagon in southern Colorado in the main event of LFA 10.

Rota (12-6) was getting ready to head to the airport in his native Brazil when he got the call that Heinisch was injured. Rota being a classy veteran, understood that injuries are a part of the sport, and sent a video message to the LFA fans and Heinisch wishing him a speedy recovery. Rota is a 12-year veteran of MMA that has won eight of his last nine bouts over the past four years. The signature win during that run came at RFA 11, when he defeated Colorado fan favorite Vinnie Lopez via KO in a back-and-forth war. Rota will now look to duplicate that success against Heinisch in the LFA 10 headliner on Friday, April 21st.

The co-main event of LFA 10 will feature the return of Jackson-Wink MMA flyweight standout Nick Urso (9-3). Urso is one of only a handful of fighters to have competed for both the RFA and Legacy FC before the merger. In September, Urso secured a signature win over Ken Porter in the co-main event of RFA 44. This showed the world what everyone in New Mexico has known for years. That would be the fact that Urso, the main training partner of John Dodson, could soon be joining Dodson in the UFC. In order to do that, he needs to make a statement at LFA 10.

The man tasked with throwing a wrench into Urso’s UFC aspirations is none other than Brandon Royval (5-2). Royval trains alongside Heinisch at Factory X Muay Thai and enjoyed a spectacular LFA debut in February. The submission machine chained together nearly a dozen submission attempts seamlessly before submitting Rakan Adwan with an armbar less than two minutes into the opening frame of their bout at LFA 5. The jiu-jitsu aficionado now takes his bag of tricks to the southern part of his home state looking to lock up the biggest win of his young career.

In true LFA fashion, the rest of the televised card is stacked with some of the best prospects in the sport. Last week,  LFA officials announced that they had signed former Cuban Olympic wrestler Maikel Perez Gonzalez to a multifight deal. Gonzalez will make his promotional and television debut at LFA 10 when he faces the gritty fire plug Adam Martinez. Serbia’s Slobodan Maksimovic returns to the LFA octagon after an impressive debut at LFA 5 in February. NCAA Division 1 All-American Cody Yohn gets the push to the TV card and will start off the broadcast.

Main Card (Televised on AXS TV at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT):

Main Event | Middleweight Bout (185 lb)

– Ian Heinisch vs. Lucas Rota

Co-Main Event | Flyweight Bout (125 lb)

– Nick Urso vs. Brandon Royval

Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)

– Zac Riley vs. Jerome Rivera

Lightweight Bout (155 lb)

– Dominic Montoya vs. Slobodan Maksimovic

Featherweight Bout (145 lb)

– Andrew Yates vs. Andrew Tenneson

Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)

– Adam Martinez vs. Maikel Perez Gonzalez

Welterweight Bout (170 lb)

– Cody Yohn vs. Mike Jones

In September, RFA and Legacy FC officials announced that they would be merging to form the premier developmental organization in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) starting in January 2017. Legacy FC and RFA have launched the careers of over 100 athletes that have reached the pinnacle of MMA by competing in the UFC.

LFA 10 will serve as the second LFA event to take place in the state of Colorado.

RFA visited “The Centennial State” eight times before the merger. The entire main card of LFA 10 will be televised live and nationwide on AXS TV at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

Please visit LFAfighting.com for bout updates and information. LFA is on Facebook at Legacy Fighting Alliance. LFA is also on Instagram at @LFAfighting and Twitter at @LFAfighting