THURSDAY, MARCH 6
LFA 203: SATYBALDIEV vs. SOARES
Presented By MONSTER ENERGY
MAIN EVENT:
CHAMPION
URAN SATYBALDIEV
vs.
CHALLENGER
LEON SOARES
LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD TITLE FIGHT
FEATURED WOMEN’S BOUT:
10x JIU-JITSU WORLD CHAMPION
BIA MESQUITA
vs.
20x KARATE WORLD CHAMPION
HOPE CHASE
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT SHOWDOWN
PALMS CASINO RESORT
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
LIVE on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 11 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. PT
Tickets are available NOW at Ticketmaster.com
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — LFA CEO Ed Soares announced that ten fights will take place at LFA 203 next month, when the promotion hosts its sophomore event in the “Fight Capital of the World”. The event will feature a fight card stacked with a world title fight, international stars, and top local talent. LFA 203 will be the second LFA event to take place in the state of Nevada and will kick off an action-packed fight week in Las Vegas.
LFA 203 takes place Thursday, March 6th following the conclusion of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 (FPI 10), which will be held at the UFC Apex earlier in the day. The following day, Friday, March 7th, Power Slap returns to Fontainebleau Las Vegas with Power Slap 12. The epic Las Vegas fight week concludes on Saturday, March 8th with UFC 313 at the T-Mobile Arena.
LFA 203: Satybaldiev vs. Soares, presented by Monster Energy, takes place Thursday, March 6th at the Pearl Theater inside the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event will feature a Light-Heavyweight Title Bout when champion Uran “Gorilla” Satybaldiev defends his title for the first time against top contender Leon “Ogro” Soares. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 11 p.m. ET /8 p.m. PT.
Tickets for LFA 203: Satybaldiev vs. Soares are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.com.
“We are excited to bring a World Championship headliner to Las Vegas at LFA 203,” stated Soares. “Uran Satybaldiev is the reigning LFA light-heavyweight world champion and the first person from Kyrgyzstan to win an LFA crown. He will return to defend his title against top Brazilian prospect and professional kickboxer Leon Soares. The event will also feature the return of “The BJJ Lady GOAT” Bia Mesquita, who transitioned to MMA seamlessly after enjoying a Hall of Fame jiu-jitsu career. She will fight 20x Karate world champion Hope Chase. This is a monster fight week in Las Vegas for combat sports, MMA, and particularly the 205-pound division as former LFA star Alex Pereira will also defend his UFC light-heavyweight world title just two nights later in the main event of UFC 313.”
LFA 203 will feature a total of ten fights including a highly-anticipated women’s bantamweight showdown between “The BJJ Lady GOAT” Bia Mesquita and “Hurricane” Hope Chase. They will be in action prior to the previously announced LFA Light-Heavyweight World Championship.
Mesquita (3-0) returns to the LFA Octagon after making the most highly-anticipated transition to MMA of any prospect in 2024. The Brazilian phenom began training Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 5. By the time she was 10, she had won the Brazilian National Junior Championships, three State Championships, and several other major tournaments. After receiving her black belt from Jiu-Jitsu legend Leticia Ribeiro fourteen years ago, Mesquita would embark on a black belt career that would earn her the nickname “BJJ Lady GOAT (Greatest Of All Time)” as she is now a member of the Guinness World Records and International Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Hall of Fame. She accomplished this by becoming the only person to win 10 gold medals, which is the record for the most IBJJF World Championship titles at the black belt level.
Mesquita made the switch to MMA last year with her LFA and American soil debut coming at LFA 194 in Niagara Falls, New York. The Jiu-Jitsu sensation showed off her world-class grappling chops by submitting Shannel Butler via Rear Naked Choke in the first round of their bout. Mesquita then made a quick turnaround by competing in the co-main event of the LFA’s year-end event at LFA 198. This was the first time Mesquita was able to compete in MMA in front of her students and teammates in Southern California. Most notably, LFA great and UFC star Mackenzie Dern sat cageside to support her friend and fellow Jiu-Jitsu wunderkind. Mesquita would submit Brazilian veteran Fernanda Araujo to give her three wins by Rear Naked Choke in her first three MMA bouts. The fans in turn voted her the 2024 LFA Fans’ Choice Awards: Female Fighter of the Year.
Mesquita will now face a fellow LFA veteran in Chase (4-2), who possesses twice the MMA experience of Mesquita. In fact, Chase will be back in action nearly 8 years after winning her amateur MMA debut. Known as “Hurricane Hope”, Chase is one of the most decorated Karateka to ever compete in Women’s MMA. The Karate black belt has won 20 world championships in Karate, which gives her a dangerous and elusive striking style. Along with her Karate credentials, she holds a 5-1 record for USA Boxing. After going a perfect 4-0 and winning two titles as an amateur, Chase turned pro at the end of 2018. She now trains at Indio Dojo in the Greater Pittsburgh area and brings a tough Midwestern mindset to her fights. Training under UFC veteran Danillo “Indio” Villefort, Chase is also a Jiu-Jitsu purple belt with half of her pro wins coming via submission.
Fight Card (Main Card on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 11 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. PT):
Main Event | Light-Heavyweight Title Bout (205 lb)
Uran Satybaldiev (7-1) vs. Leon Soares (9-2)
Co-Main Event | Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Allan Begosso (8-3-1) vs. Micaias Ureña (9-3)
Flyweight Bout (125 lb)
An Tuan Ho (6-1) vs. Micah Haas (6-0)
Women’s Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Bia Mesquita (3-0) vs. Hope Chase (4-2)
Middleweight Bout (185 lb)
Sharaf Davlatmurodov (19-5-1) vs. Renato Valente (10-7)
Heavyweight Bout (265 lb)
Josh Hokit (3-0) vs. Ezekiel Latu (5-3)
Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Stav Koren (5-0) vs. Chase Whitmer (3-1)
Flyweight Bout (125 lb)
Aupuni Pagaoa (5-2) vs. Jose Sandoval (6-3)
Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Azizbek Temirov (5-0) vs. Daniel Araújo (5-0)
Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Ezra Elliott (3-0) vs. Jose Vasquez (3-0)
Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Cameron Sandoval (3-0) vs. Victor Santos (5-3)
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 PALMS CASINO RESORT:
Palms Casino Resort is making history as the first resort in Las Vegas fully owned and operated by a Native American Tribe. Palms Casino Resort features two distinct towers with 766 hotel rooms and suites, a diverse mix of bars, restaurants, live entertainment venues, and immersive lifestyle experiences across a 95,000-square-foot reimagined casino. Offering free valet and self-parking, the resort also includes over 190,000 square feet of meeting, convention, and event space; the Pearl, a 2,500-seat theater; an expansive pool, The Spa & Salon at Palms; a wedding chapel; the Brenden Theatre 14-screen cinema and nearly 600 units at Palms Place condominiums. Palms is located just west of the center of the Las Vegas Strip off I-15 at 4321 West Flamingo Road. Palms Casino Resort is owned by The San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority (“SMGHA”) an affiliate of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. For more information visit Palms.com or the Palms Press Room. Follow Palms on social media Facebook, X, and Instagram.
