LFA Announces Final Phase 2 Events
By press release
LFA returned to action in July with four events in four weeks. Each event featured a world title fight and helped usher in a new era of live sports entertainment amid the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. LFA followed up with two more successful events in August and is now set to conclude Phase 2 of its 2020 comeback with two more events at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. These events, like the six before it, will take place behind closed-doors and adhere to strict health codes, safeguards, and testing protocols that have been put in place for the safety of the fighters, cornermen, and event staff. LFA 90 and LFA 91 will take place on the first two Fridays of September starting this Friday. These events will be available worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
“We are excited to start September with back-to-back weeks of MMA action at our fight campus in Sioux Falls, South Dakota,” stated LFA CEO Ed Soares. “This Friday, top undefeated prospects Zviad Lazishvili and Ricky Steele will fight for the vacant LFA bantamweight title in the main event of LFA 90. Then we return a week later on September 11th with a middleweight headliner between Chidi Njokuani and Cristian Torres. These are two of the most exciting knockout artists that have fought in our Octagon and it’s the perfect way to conclude Phase 2 of our comeback from the 2020 worldwide lockdown.”
LFA 90: Lazishvili vs. Steele takes place Friday, September 4th. The main event will feature a bantamweight world title fight between the top two undefeated prospects in the division. Zviad Lazishvili (12-0) and Ricky “The Karate Kid” Steele (6-0) understand the implications and prestige behind winning this title. This title has a long history as it was first awarded at LFA 1, after the merger of RFA and Legacy created LFA in 2017. Leandro Higo won the title that night and went on to fight for the Bellator title. The other three champions Ricky Simón, Miles Johns, and Casey Kenney currently fight in the UFC. Lazishvili is a six-time national grappling champion from the country of Georgia, who earned a dominant Unanimous Decision victory in his LFA and North American debut at LFA 79. Steele is a fourth-degree black belt in Keishinkan Karate, who has picked up high-profile wins competing in RFA, The Ultimate Fighter 27, and Dana White’s Contender Series.
Main Event | Bantamweight Title Bout (135 lb)
– Zviad Lazishvili (12-0) vs. Ricky Steele (6-0)
Co-Main Event | Welterweight Bout (170 lb)
– Devin Smyth (9-2) vs. Maycon Mendonça (9-4)
Welterweight Bout (170 lb)
– Ignacio Bahamondes (9-2) vs. Chris Brown (5-2)
Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
– Mando Gutierrez (4-0) vs. Mo Miller (3-0)
Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
– Sean McPadden (4-0) vs. Allan Begosso (3-0-1)
Women’s Strawweight Bout (115 lb)
– Tabatha Ricci (2-0) vs. Kelsey Arnesen (0-0)
LFA 91: Njokuani vs. Torres takes place Friday, September 11th. The main event will feature a middleweight showdown between two of the most exciting knockout artists in the division. Chidi “Chidi Bang Bang” Njokuani (18-7) and Cristian “Masacre” Torres (15-10) bring a combined 50 fights of experience into this headliner with both having earned 10 victories each via KO or TKO. Njokuani will be joining a small group of fighters to have fought under the LFA, RFA, and Legacy banners. His last eight fights have also been featured on the main card of Bellator events with five of those bouts receiving main event or co-main event status. Njokuani will face a dangerous Paraguayan fighter, who has fought twice for LFA at 205-pounds. Cristian “Masacre” Torres showed the world how he got his nickname in his LFA debut, which he made on 4 days’ notice at LFA 46. Torres proceded to knock out Dana White’s Contender Series vet Dashawn Boatwright with a highlight reel uppercut.
Main Event | Middleweight Bout (185 lb)
– Chidi Njokuani (18-7) vs. Cristian Torres (15-10)
Co-Main Event | Middleweight Bout (185 lb)
– Kyle Stewart (12-3) vs. Tim Caron (10-2)
Light-Heavyweight Bout (205 lb)
– Jamal Pogues (7-3) vs. Tim Hiley (7-2)
Women’s Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
– Hailey Cowan (5-1) vs. Kelly Clayton (2-2)
Light-Heavyweight Bout (205 lb)
– Nick Maximov (4-0) vs. Johnny James (1-1)
Featherweight Bout (145 lb)
– Nate Richardson (7-2) vs. Darius Estell (6-2)
Welterweight Bout (170 lb)
– Josh Quinlan (2-0) vs. Pete Keepers (0-0)