FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21
LFA 202: NKUTA vs. GARCIA
Presented By MONSTER ENERGY
MAIN EVENT:
“TURBO”
PHUMI NKUTA
vs.
“ELUSIVE”
ADRIAN GARCIA
FLYWEIGHT SHOWDOWN
LIVE on UFC FIGHT PASS®
SENECA NIAGARA RESORT & CASINO
NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK
TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT TICKETMASTER.COM
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — LFA CEO Ed Soares announced today that the promotion will return to New York on the third Friday in February. LFA 202 will feature a Flyweight Showdown when the promotion returns to the Empire State. This will be the eighth LFA event to take place in the USA’s fourth most populated state.
LFA 202: Nkuta vs. Garcia, presented by Monster Energy, takes place Friday, February 21st at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls, New York. The main event will feature a Flyweight Showdown between top prospects “Turbo” Phumi Nkuta and “Elusive” Adrian Garcia. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
“We are excited to bring another stacked international fight card to New York,” stated Soares. “LFA 202 is loaded with top talent from around the world, which our incredible American and Canadian fanbase in Niagara Falls can truly appreciate. The Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino is a world-class venue located on an international border, which gives our events in the venue a special atmosphere on fight night. It will now host two of the top flyweight prospects in the sport. Phumi Nkuta has roots in South Africa, but proudly represents the Tri-State Area. He is a top undefeated prospect that has also recently competed in Pro Grappling and Pro Wrestling. He will face Adrian Garcia, who is a dynamic striker from south Florida that has a knack for playing spoiler with home crowd favorites in the LFA. This will create an explosive showdown on February 21st.”
Tickets for LFA 202: Nkuta vs. Garcia are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.com.
Nkuta (8-0) was born to a South African mother, who fled the apartheid regime aiming to give her kids a better life and Phumelele (known as Phumi) has certainly made his family proud. Now fighting out of Union City, New Jersey, which is located just across the Hudson River from New York City, “Turbo” has emerged as the next-big-thing from the famed New York based fight team run by Matt Serra and Ray Longo. This is the same fight camp that has produced UFC champions Chris Weidman, Aljamain Sterling, and Merab Dvalishvili. In fact, Nkuta was a main training partner for Sterling during his title run and even lived with him at one point. That championship pedigree rubbed off on Nkuta as he has captured multiple regional MMA titles, while also competing in Pro Grappling and Pro Wrestling. Nkuta ended 2024 by winning a Pro Wrestling match against former UFC and WWE star Matthew Riddle before competing in a Pro Grappling match on UFC FIGHT PASS® just 8 days later. Now Nkuta looks to represent the Mzansi (South African) flag, while making his LFA debut in New York in the main event of LFA 202.
Garcia (8-2-1) is a man that showed the world he is comfortable playing spoiler in hostile environments. He did it this past summer at LFA 190 by becoming the first man to defeat Daniel Park and did it in front of Park’s home crowd in southern California. The man known as “Elusive” was able to drop Park early and that set the tone for the rest of the fight. Garcia continued to apply pressure throughout the fight with striking and timely takedowns en route to sweeping every round on all three score cards. The win also marked Garcia’s return to the sport after a nearly two year hiatus, but for fans it was worth the wait. Now training out of the Goat Shed in his hometown of Miami, Florida, the dynamic kickboxer who proudly represents his Cuban and Salvadoran roots is looking to play spoiler once again. Except this time around, Garcia will get to shine on UFC FIGHT PASS® in the marquee of an LFA main event after winning on the LFA FIGHT NETWORK™ in August. This will happen when he travels to Nkuta’s backyard of New York in a can’t miss showdown between two of the sport’s most exciting prospects.
Currently Announced Fight Card (Main Card on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT):
Main Event | Flyweight Bout (125 lb)
Phumi Nkuta (8-0) vs. Adrian Garcia (8-2-1)
Co-Main Event | Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Shuya Kamikubo (14-2-1) vs. Bakhtovar Yunusov (10-0)
Heavyweight Bout (265 lb)
Joe Taylor (6-0) vs. Phillip Latu (6-2)
Women’s Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Sierra Dinwoodie (3-0) vs. Nikol Aguirre (2-0)
Lightweight Bout (155 lb)
Kevin Carrier (3-0) vs. Kyle Pufahl (5-2)
Women’s Strawweight Bout (115 lb)
Jayde Sheeley (3-1) vs. Cristina Brador (2-1)
Lightweight Bout (155 lb)
Danik Gura (1-0) vs. Farman Hasanov (2-0)
Featherweight Bout (145 lb)
Derrick Patterson (2-2) vs. Noufel El Kasri (2-1)
Catchweight Bout (150 lb)
Tony Viscomi (3-0) vs. Devon Coates (4-1)
About LFA:
LFA is a professional Mixed Martial Arts promotion that was formed by the powerhouse merger between RFA and Legacy FC in 2017. It has launched the careers of over 330 athletes that have reached the pinnacle of MMA by competing in the UFC. LFA presents live Mixed Martial Arts events on a monthly basis around the world including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. 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 promotion owns and operates LFA FIGHT NETWORK™, a premium YouTube channel that features live combat sports events alongside live LFA Prelims and historical fights.
Please visit LFA.com for updates and information. Visit the official LFA YouTube channel (LFA FIGHT NETWORK™) at @LFAfights. LFA is on Facebook at Facebook.com/LFAfighting. LFA is also on Instagram at @LFAfighting and X (formerly Twitter) at @LFAfighting.
About UFC FIGHT PASS®:
UFC FIGHT PASS® is the world’s leading digital subscription service for combat sports. Since launching in 2013, UFC FIGHT PASS is now available in more than 200 countries and territories. FIGHT PASS provides its members with unlimited access to live UFC FIGHT PASS Prelims; live mixed martial arts and combat sports from around the world; original series and historical programming; special features; behind-the-scenes content; in-depth interviews; and up-to-the minute reports on the world of combat sports. UFC FIGHT PASS subscribers also have 24/7 access to the world’s largest fight library, featuring more than 20,000 bouts from dozens of combats sports organizations, as well as every fight in UFC history. Fight fans can access UFC FIGHT PASS on personal computers, iOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, Samsung Smart TVs, LG Smart TVs, and Sony TVs with Android TV. For more information, please visit UFCFightPass.com.
About SENECA NIAGARA RESORT & CASINO:
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