Former UFC fighter Spike Carlyle will return to LFA on Friday night, fighting former title contender Batsumberel Dagvadorj in the main event of a card from the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA.
Here is a full preview of the show.
Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Bout 1: Giovanna Canuto (0-0) vs. Amanda Borg (0-5) (Strawweight)
The first of two debuting fighters on the card is Giovanna Canuto, who will face Amanda Borg on the prelims. Canuto is making the move to MMA after competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the past few years. She fights Borg, who has lost all five of her pro fights since 2014.
Bout 2: Jacobi Jones (0-0) vs. Cam Ansel (0-2) (Lightweight)
Jacobi Jones will also make his pro debut on the preliminary card, fighting Cam Ansel in a lightweight bout. Jones has fought as an amateur for the past two years, attaining five wins, per Tapology.
Ansel has lost his two previous MMA appearances. He lost an LFA fight quickly in January, getting submitted by Shane Shapiro in the second minute of their bout.
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 3: Kendrick Latchman (8-6) vs. Luciano Ramos (5-5) (Bantamweight)
Bantamweights Kendrick Latchman and Luciano Ramos will compete on the main card portion of the show. Ramos first entered the bout to replace Juancamilo Ronderos, who withdrew from a fight against Rodney Kealohi. Now that Kealohi is off the card as well, Ramos was given a new opponent in Latchman.
Ramos last fought in late 2019, where he defeated Alexander Olaizola on a regional card.
Latchman will be making his fourth LFA appearance. While he has appeared recently under boxing and bare-knuckle boxing rulesets, Latchman returns to MMA where he is on a two-fight losing streak.
Bout 4: Josh Quinlan (4-0) vs. Dallas Jennings (3-1) (Welterweight)
Returning to LFA for the third time, undefeated welterweight Josh Quinlan will fight Dallas Jennings on Friday. Quinlan has picked up stoppage wins in all four of his fights since turning pro in 2019. He last appeared in January, where he stopped Joe Boerschig in the third round of their fight.
Jennings will be ending a break from action on Friday, as he has been inactive since late 2019. His last fight was his third pro win, as he stopped Kalel Robinson within a round with strikes.
Bout 5: Fernie Garcia (8-1) vs. Isaiah Batin-Gonzalez (4-1) (Bantamweight)
Aiming to pick up his fourth consecutive win in LFA, Fernie Garcia will face Isaiah Batin-Gonzalez on the main card. While Garcia’s sole pro loss came in 2019 in his LFA debut, he has since bounced back with three wins in the promotion. Garica fought to a split decision in his last performance, defeating Ryan Hayes.
Batin-Gonzalez will be competing for the first time in over a year with the goal of rebounding off his sole pro loss. His last fight came against now-UFC competitor Jesse Strader, who stopped him in the second minute with strikes. Prior to then, Batin-Gonzalez had four wins from 2016 to 2019, including a victory against Khai Wu in Bellator.
Bout 6: Abdul Kareem Al-Selwady (10-3) vs. Jake Sebastian (6-2) (Lightweight)
Former Brave CF fighter Abdul Kareem Al-Selwady will start the next chapter of his career when fighting Jake Sebastian at LFA 103. Al-Selwady fought for Brave CF from 2017 to 2019, earning four wins before taking two consecutive losses and departing from the promotion.
Sebastian will also be making his LFA debut. He enters the fight after earning six wins in the past four years.
Bout 7: Vanessa Demopoulos (5-3) vs. Cynthia Arceo (5-2-1) (Strawweight)
Former LFA Strawweight Champion Vanessa Demopoulos has the chance to break a two-fight skid when fighting Cynthia Arceo in the co-main event of Friday night’s card.
Demopoulos had a 2020 that included ups and downs. After starting the year off with a win against Loveth Young, Demopoulos went on to defeat Sam Hughes to become the first LFA Strawweight Champion.
Just a month later, Demopoulos appeared on “Dana White’s Contender Series” in hopes of a UFC contract. Her fight on the show didn’t go her way, losing a bout to Cory McKenna.
Demopoulos then returned to LFA in the hopes of defending her 115-pound belt. Lupita Godinez had different plans, as she fought to a majority decision win against Demopoulos to become the new champion.
Now, Demopoulos faces Arceo, who will be appearing under LFA for the first time. Arceo last fought on an Invicta FC card in 2019, where she lost to now-UFC fighter Mallory Martin via unanimous decision.
Bout 8: Spike Carlyle (9-3) vs. Batsumberel Dagvadorj (7-1) (Lightweight)
Competing for the first time since leaving the UFC roster, Spike Carlyle will fight Batsuberel Dagvadorj in the main event.
Carlyle fought three times in the UFC in 2020. He was quickly noted as a hectic fighter who competed with an unusual style. His first bout was a quick win, stopping Aalon Cruz in the second minute of their fight. Carlyle then lost his next two performances, dropping scorecards to Billy Quarantillo and Bill Algeo.
He now returns to LFA, a promotion he appeared in once in 2019.
Dagvadorj is coming back after losing an all-out, back-and-forth title fight to Maycon Mendonca in December at LFA 96. The five-round fight went to Mendonca via scorecards, ending Dagvadorj’s seven-fight undefeated record which included a victory in Bellator.
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