LFA’s busy August will continue this weekend, as the promotion will head to the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls, New York, USA, for an event. A brief nine-bout lineup on Friday night is expected to be headlined by experienced lightweights Adam Assenza and Junior Melo.
Here’s a full preview of the show.
Click here to skip to a preview of the main card.
Preliminary Card
Bout 1: Alex Moher (3-1) vs. Kevin Hixson (1-0) (Amateur Flyweight)
A pair of amateur fights will lead off Friday’s prelims. In the first of those two bouts, Alex Moher and Kevin Hixson will compete at flyweight.
Hixson won his amateur debut in March, earning a second-round finish victory against Will Gagnier. That wasn’t his first appearance in combat sports, previously competing under kickboxing rules from 2019 to 2022.
Moher has fought since 2020, earning three wins and one loss since then. He earned his first finish victory in May, submitting Tony Rojas with an arm triangle choke.
Bout 2: Austin Ross (2-0) vs. Matt Smith (1-1) (Amateur Light Heavyweight)
Light heavyweights Austin Ross and Matt Smith will compete next.
Ross has scored two wins since debuting in October 2021. His second victory came recently in the LFA cage, stopping Terry Copling in February.
Smith suffered his first amateur loss in June, taking a split decision defeat against Andrew Roberts.
Bout 3: Derrick Patterson (0-0) vs. Luke Roberts (0-0-1) (Lightweight)
Both fighting for their first pro win, Derrick Patterson and Luke Roberts will meet in the prelims.
Patterson is switching to pro MMA after a somewhat unsuccessful amateur run. Fighting from 2018 to 2021, Patterson picked up four wins and six losses.
Roberts had a rare pro debut outcome, taking a draw against Konstantin Gaivoronskii in June 2021.
Bout 4: Gavin Teasdale (0-0) vs. Freddie Rodriguez (2-0) (Flyweight)
In another pro debut, Gavin Teasdale will face Freddie Rodriguez.
MMA database Tapology says that Teasdale’s amateur run was a short singular win earlier this year. He first planned to debut on an LFA card in February but is now getting his shot in August.
Rodriguez has picked up two wins since turning pro, with both coming via finish in the first round. His last fight was just one month back, scoring a first-round doctor stoppage over Victor Guarriello.
Main Card (9:00PM EDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 5: Liam Anderson (2-2) vs. Robert Gidron (6-6) (Middleweight)
In the first main card bout, Liam Anderson and Robert Gidron will face off.
Anderson is coming over to LFA after a two-fight CFFC run last year, earning a win and a loss each. He’ll be fighting for the first time in over a year when he steps into the cage this weekend.
Gidron has an experienced record of 12 pro fights, including a previous appearance in Bellator. He enters this weekend on a two-fight winning streak, with both bouts ending via finish.
Bout 6: Lydell Poag (2-0) vs. Dylan Budka (3-1) (Middleweight)
A middleweight fight between Lydell Poag and Dylan Budka will go next.
Budka won his LFA debut in April, earning a second-round submission over former title challenger Tee Cummins. That fight continued an incredibly busy year for him, first debuting as a pro only in January.
Poag has won both of his pro fights thus far. He had a strong debut in August last year, stopping Stavros Moustakakis in just 22 seconds on a CFFC card. Later that year, he also earned a first-round win against Dillion Winemiller.
Bout 7: Ryan Charlebois (3-1) vs. Logan Urban (5-1) (Welterweight)
Both aiming to get back into the win column, welterweights Ryan Charlebois and Logan Urban will compete next.
Urban had a four-fight winning streak broken last year, as he suffered a 47-second finish loss to Josh Quinlan on UFC TV show “Dana White’s Contender Series.” While that fight did later get overturned to a no contest due to a drug test administered on Quinlan, it still ended the series of wins that Urban had going previously
Charlesbois suffered his first pro defeat just two months back, taking a disqualification loss to Jeremiah Curtright. He had three wins before then, including two in the LFA cage.
Bout 8: Teshay Gouthro (5-1) vs. Arnold Jimenez (8-2) (Bantamweight)
While the plan wasn’t originally for Tesahy Gouthro and Arnold Jimenez to serve as the co-main event for Friday’s card, that is what the plan is currently.
LFA originally hoped that a fight between Nurullo Aliev and Thiago Oliveira would take place in the co-main event. However, after Aliev took a fight on UFC TV show “Dana White’s Contender Series,” that bout was thrown out.
The promotion then shifted to making a fight between Tony Laramie and Rodney Kealohi for the second-last bout on the card. LFA had to reroute again recently, as Laramie wasn’t able to weigh in for his bout, causing that bout to depart as well.
After that series of changes, Gouthro and Jiminez took the co-main slot.
Gouthro will be fighting to earn his first LFA victory. He lost his sole promotional appearance in 2020, dropping a decision against Justin Wetzell.
Gouthro has since put together two wins, defeating Kristian Bouchard on a Canadian regional show, and earning a decision victory over Efren Escareno at CFFC 109 in May.
Jimenez is entering this bout on a long winning streak. He scored his sixth consecutive victory in March, earning a third-round finish against Josh Wang-Kim at LFA 127.
Bout 9: Adam Assenza (16-6) vs. Junior Melo (11-5) (Lightweight)
A pair of experienced lightweights will get the chance to earn a high-profile win in this weekend’s main event.
Assenza is a lightweight competitor from Canada that has been fighting since 2011. Most of his pro wins have come from the Canadian scene, although he has fought in the U.S. many times before as well.
Assenza extended his winning streak to an impressive six consecutive fights in June, earning a first-round finish over Dominic Clark at BTC 15.
Melo is an explosive fighter that is returning to LFA this weekend. He won his debut in quick fashion earlier this year, putting away Tommy Aaron in the second minute with strikes.
Finishing fights is nothing new to Melo, as the majority of the outings on his record haven’t gone the distance. His quickest win was in 2017 when he submitted Sasso Sales in just 48 seconds with an armbar.
Consistency has been the defining word of Assenza’s career in recent years. But can he keep his streak going when put up against a fighter who has put away most opponents he has faced? That question will be answered this weekend.
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