Rafael Lovato Jr. captures Bellator gold in London; LFA alumni dominate at UFC – Greenville
June 23, 2019 1:13 pm.LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) had another former fighter win a Bellator title as well as eight former fighters shine in the UFC’s first trip to South Carolina on Saturday.
“Rafael Lovato Jr. became the second LFA alum to win a Bellator title,” stated LFA CEO Ed Soares. “Lovato Jr. went five hard rounds with the champion Gegard Mousasi and came out on top in London, England. We also had eight former fighters shine in the UFC on Saturday. It was a great weekend for LFA alum.”
Lovato Jr. defeated the reigning Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi in the main event of Bellator 223 on Saturday. The championship bout took place at the SSE Arena in London, England, United Kingdom. Lovato Jr. is now 10-0 in MMA and will add the Bellator middleweight title to a trophy case that also includes the Legacy FC middleweight title.
Before crossing over into MMA, the proud Oklahoman was widely considered the most successful American jiu-jitsu practitioner in the history of the sport. In fact, he is the second American to ever win an IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu World Championship at the black belt level. UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn was the first American to achieve that feat.
Also on Saturday, eight former LFA fighters were busy competing at UFC: Greenville in Greenville, South Carolina. This is the same city that hosted LFA 8 two years ago. It has now hosted the first LFA event and first UFC event in the state’s history.
The eight LFA alum that competed at UFC: Greenville were Andrea Lee, Montana De La Rosa, Dan Ige, Kevin Aguilar, Andre Ewell, Kevin Holland, Luis Peña. and Deron Winn. Half of them were featured on the main card.
In two separate bouts, former LFA standouts collided in what some would call “LFA Superfights”. Those two bouts involved Lee facing De La Rosa in a women’s flyweight contest and Ige squaring off with Aguilar in a featherweight bout. Lee and Ige prevailed as did every other LFA alum on the card. That includes Winn, who was making his UFC debut and was also awarded a $50,000 bonus for his “Fight of the Night” performance.
LFA returns this Friday, June 28th with LFA 70 – Ferreira vs. Martin. The main event will feature the second semi-final bout in the LFA Heavyweight Tournament between 6’10” Brazilian behemoth Renan “Problema” Ferriera and top American prospect Brett “Big Dog” Martin. The event will take place at The Sylvee in downtown Madison, Wisconsin . The main card will be televised live and nationwide on AXS TV at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
Main Card (Televised on AXS TV at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT):
Main Event | Heavyweight Bout (265 lb)
– Renan “Problema” Ferreira (5-1) vs. Brett “Big Dog” Martin (7-1)
Co-Main Event | Welterweight Bout (170 lb)
– Mark Lemminger (8-1) vs. Isaac Steele (7-1)
Catchweight Bout (140 lb)
– Askar Askar (9-0) vs. Jake Childers (6-0)
Welterweight Bout (170 lb)
– Dante Schiro (4-0) vs. R’mandel Cameron (6-4)
Flyweight Bout (125 lb)
– Gonzalo Ponce (4-2) vs. Lloyd McKinney (13-6)
Catchweight Bout (150 lb)
– Jamey Simmons (4-1) vs. Adam King (5-3)
Light-Heavyweight Bout (205 lb)
– Alex Polizzi (3-0) vs. Pierre Walters (1-0)
In 2017, RFA and Legacy FC merged to form LFA, the premier developmental organization in Mixed Martial Arts. The combined forces of LFA launched the careers of over 160 athletes that have reached the pinnacle of MMA by competing in the UFC. In May 2018, the promotion joined the London Trust Media Holdings group of companies.
Please visit LFA.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.
About LFA:
LFA is a professional Mixed Martial Arts promotion that gives rising stars and top contenders the opportunity to prove their talent to fans and leaders in the industry. LFA was formed by the powerhouse merger between RFA and Legacy FC. LFA presents live Mixed Martial Arts events on a monthly basis around the United States including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, and Houston. LFA can be seen live in over 53 million homes nationally through its television deal with AXS TV. Based in Las Vegas, NV, LFA is one of the most active and respected MMA organizations in the fastest growing sport in the world. (The Octagon, Ultimate Fighting Championship®, UFC®, and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC. All rights reserved).
About AXS TV FIGHTS:
AXS TV FIGHTS presents more LIVE mixed martial arts and kickboxing events than any other television network every Friday night at 9pE/6pP. Events taking place on the west coast will be televised at 10pE/7pP. UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich, and veteran broadcaster Ron Kruck call all the action and Phoenix Carnevale reports from cageside as champions, challengers, and top prospects take center stage. AXS TV Fights can be found online, on Facebook, and on Twitter. AXS TV is widely distributed in the U.S. via AT&T U-verse, Charter, Comcast/Xfinity, DIRECTV, DISH, Sling TV, Suddenlink, Verizon FiOS, and other cable, satellite, telco and streaming providers. The network is also carried in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
About LONDON TRUST MEDIA:
London Trust Media is a diversified business focused on the Internet and media industries – bringing the Internet back to its original state and bringing power back to the people. London Trust Media runs the leading no-log VPN service provider in the world Private Internet Access (PIA) as well as Kore Asian Media, Linux Journal, freenode, Snoonet, JOG, BlockExplorer, and Provocateur. Please visit their website at www.londontrustmedia.com for more information.
Tags: Featured
Categorized in: Featured, News
This post was written by Ryan Bevins
