FRIDAY, JUNE 7
LFA 185: GENNRICH vs. LEWIS
PRESENTED BY: BETONLINE
MAIN EVENT:
LFA CHAMPION
KEGAN GENNRICH
vs.
UNDEFEATED CONTENDER
RICHIE LEWIS
LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD TITLE FIGHT
CO-MAIN EVENT:
LFA INTERIM CHAMPION
NATASHA KUZIUTINA
vs.
FORMER BELLATOR STAR
BRUNA ELLEN
INTERIM WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT
LIVE on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
THE HORSESHOE CASINO HAMMOND
HAMMOND, INDIANA
TICKETS AVAILABLE FRIDAY MAY 3RD AT TICKETMASTER.COM
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — LFA CEO Ed Soares announced today that the promotion will make its third trip to Indiana in June. The stacked event will feature a Championship Doubleheader in the lightweight and women’s strawweight divisions, when the promotion heads to the northwestern part of the state. RFA hosted one event in the “Hoosier State” before the merger of RFA and Legacy FC that created LFA.
LFA 185: Gennrich vs. Lewis, presented by BETONLINE, takes place Friday, June 7th at The Horseshoe Casino Hammond in Hammond, Indiana, which is located in the Chicago metro area.
The main event will feature a lightweight title bout when champion Kegan “Machine Gun” Gennrich battles top undefeated contender Richie “Savage” Lewis. The co-main event will feature an interim women’s strawweight title fight when interim champion Natasha “Kuzya” Kuziutina faces longtime Bellator star Bruna Ellen. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
Tickets for LFA 185: Gennrich vs. Lewis will be available May 3rd at 10:00 am CST at Ticketmaster.com.
“We are excited to bring a Championship Doubleheader to Chicagoland in June,” stated Soares. “The main event will feature the first title defense of the LFA lightweight champion Kegan Gennrich. He will face top undefeated prospect and fellow LFA standout Richie Lewis. Then in the co-main event, LFA interim women’s strawweight champion Natasha Kuziutina will defend her title against longtime Bellator star Bruna Ellen. The fight fans in the Chicago metro area and throughout Indiana provide excellent energy for our fighters and we look forward to another great event.”
Gennrich (8-2) started the year in a big way by becoming the first man in MMA to capture a major world title in 2024. He did this by dethroning JaCobi Jones in the mein event of LFA 174 on the second Friday of the new year. The win made Gennrich the ninth lightweight champion in LFA history, but the proud Wisconsin native has bigger goals in mind for the promotion he first signed with in 2020. He is now looking to become just the second of those nine champions to successfully defend that prestigious title. Gennrich’s run for the title was impressive. It includes a 6-fight win streak with a pair of wins in 2023 that earned him the shot at the title. More impressively, is the level of opposition he has been beating along the way. Last year, he became the first and only man to defeat top prospect Richie Miranda. He then ended the year with a bloody submission win over Donald Bush. That win earned him the title shot against Jones, which he won with a dominant performance that ended with a submission win in the final round. Now the former University of Wisconsin wrestler looks to continue his run by defending his title in the main event of LFA 185.
Lewis (5-0) is one of the most talked about prospects in MMA for good reason. Born and raised in New Jersey, the Rutgers University alum naturally drew inspiration from a UFC champion that happened to be from his hometown in the “Garden State”. That would be the legendary Frankie Edgar. The two men are 13 years apart in age, but are both graduates from Toms River High School East. Naturally, Lewis drew inspiration from the UFC Hall of Famer on the mats, and now in the cage, and the results have been undeniable. In junior college, he was a two-time NJCAA All-American at Iowa Central. Then at Rutgers, Lewis became an automatic NCAA Division I national qualifier after notching a 27-7 overall mark and 16-1 dual record in his first season with the program. However, it was what he did after college on the international wrestling scene that really turned heads. In November 2017, Lewis became the first American to win a U23 World medal after winning the gold medal at 70 kg. Presently, the man known as “Savage” is fully immersed in MMA, where he has won a regional title in Florida, dominated his LFA debut, and now has his sights on LFA gold.
The co-main event of LFA 185 will feature the first title fight of the night and it will be for the LFA interim women’s strawweight title.
Kuziutina (5-1) ended last year with the biggest win of her career at LFA 173, which was the LFA’s year-end show in Las Vegas. She did this by becoming the first and only woman to defeat five-time IBJJF champion and the reigning LFA Fans’ Choice Awards: Female Fighter of the Year, Giovanna Canuto. The win earned “Kuzya” the LFA interim women’s strawweight title, which made her the first woman from Russia to win an LFA title. Prior to that, Kuziutina had transitioned to MMA as the most decorated judoka to ever compete in the strawweight division of MMA. She has represented Russia at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 (took place in 2021) Summer Olympics. It was at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she earned an Olympic bronze medal. Kuziutina also won a silver medal at the World Judo Championships in 2019 and has won five gold medals at the European Judo Championships. She now looks to become just the second LFA women’s strawweight champion to successfully defend her title.
Ellen (7-4) will be the woman challenging for the title after spending the past eight years competing as one of the most respected names in the Bellator promotion. In that time, she fought for the promotion nine times. In fact, a tenth fight for the promotion was set to take place last year against Keri Melendez, the wife of Gilbert Melendez, but was canceled when Melendez withdrew with an injury. The popular Brazilian is widely known for her gameness as she has fought some of the biggest names in the sport, including bouts against former Bellator champions Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Juliana Velasquez. She also holds notable victories in the promotion over Ilara Joanne, Desiree Yanez, Elina Kallionidou, and Veta Arteaga. More impressively is the fact she gained this success and notoriety, while competing in a division 10-pounds heavier than her natural weight class due to flyweight being the lightest weight division that Bellator offered. Ellen is now excited to challenge for an LFA strawweight title at LFA 185.
Currently Announced Fight Card:
Main Event | Lightweight Title Bout (155 lb)
Kegan Gennrich (8-2) vs. Richie Lewis (5-0)
Co-Main Event | Interim Women’s Strawweight Title Bout (115 lb)
Natasha Kuziutina (5-1) vs. Bruna Ellen (7-4)
Featherweight Bout (145 lb)
Busurmankul Abdibait Uulu (5-2) vs. Cassio Barao (8-0-1)
Welterweight Bout (170 lb)
Tyler Scott (8-3) vs. Joey Hart (5-1)
Welterweight Bout (170 lb)
Sadeck Sanon (5-2) vs. Paul Kimble (3-0)
Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Zach Vaci (4-1) vs. John Beckett (4-1)
Flyweight Bout (125 lb)
Miguel Sanson (4-2) vs. John Burkholder (5-1)
Lightweight Bout (155 lb)
Bunyod Majidov (4-0) vs. Ilay Barzilay (4-0)
Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Alberto Rodriguez (4-3) vs. Cauata Samuel (6-3)
Welterweight Bout (170 lb)
Omoyele Gonzalez (3-3) vs. Jerry Arreola (1-0)
Lightweight Bout (155 lb)
Luis Unzueta (3-2) vs. Daniel Jeschke (2-0)
Featherweight Bout (145 lb)
Zhiian Suliev (4-1) vs. Mauricio Rodriguez (4-0)
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 300 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 THE HORSESHOE CASINO HAMMOND:
The legendary Horseshoe Hammond casino is Chicagoland’s No. 1 destination for 21 and over gambling, dining, sports betting and entertainment. Home to delicious cuisine courtesy of Jack Binion’s Steakhouse restaurant, we also host the Chicago area’s top acts and concerts at The Venue. Exceeding expectations at every turn, Horseshoe is where Chicagoland gambles. For more information, visit the official Horseshoe Hammond Website.
