LFA 175: Lopes vs. Brigagão (Cajamar, São Paulo, Brazil)

This week we kickoff our 2024 Brazil shows with our 7th show in Cajamar, and 9th in the state of Sao Paulo.

This week’s main event features a Light Heavyweight Title fight as the champion Bruno Lopes (11-1) returns for the first time since September 2022 to defend his title for the first time against Marcos Brigagao (17-6). Both men are Dana White Contender Series-veterans with Lopes coming off his first ever loss as a Pro on the show in September, while Brigagao lost to LFA-vet Jamal Pogues on the show in 2019. Lopes is ranked #10 by Tapology in Brazil at 205 lbs and has 9 finishes in 11 victories. Brigagao is ranked #6 in Brazil and has 15 finishes in 17 victories. The two have combined for 16 first-round finishes. Both men have good striking pedigrees, but the BJJ Black Belt, Bruno Lopes should have the edge on the ground.

Our co-main event promises fireworks as strikers Samuel Silva (11-4-1) and Anderson Ferreira (18-4) square off at Lightweight. Silva has rattled off 3 wins in a row including a win over DWCS-vet Rodrigo Lidio at LFA 166 in September. He’s Tapology’s #15 ranked Lightweight in Brazil and has 10 finishes in 11 wins. Ferreira has won 4 fights in a row and along with an impressive MMA resume, he has won world titles in Kickboxing/Muay Thai. He is ranked #12 in Brazil and has finishes in all but one of his Pro victories (16 KOs, 1 Sub). The two have combined for 23 first-round finishes and both fighters were nominated for “Fight of the Year” in the 2023 Fan’s Choice Awards, so you can expect them to provide another nominee here.

Also on the card:

– Fresh off a win on Dana White Contender Series in August, Marco Tulio (10-1) returns to the LFA for a second time to take on newcomer Cemey Dos Santos (6-4) at Middleweight. Tulio earned a Decision win and 6th straight win on DWCS in August, but was not awarded a UFC contract. His last fight in the LFA was exactly a year ago at LFA 151 where he got a Round 1 TKO win. He is Taplogy’s #3 ranked Middleweight in Brazil and has 7 finishes in 10 wins. Dos Santos is returning to MMA for the first time since February 2020 after battling some injuries. Hailing from Rio, he is a Black Belt in Muay Thai with 4 KO wins out of his 6 Pro victories. A lot of combined first-round finishes in this one as well, with 10 between Tulio and Dos Santos.

– In a rematch from a fight way back in 2016, Fernando Laurenco (17-3) returns to the LFA to take on Rafael “Mini Man” Pereira (10-4). Laurenco handed Pereira his first Pro loss back in November 2016. Laurenco is a Black Belt in BJJ and Tapology’s #3 ranked Bantamweight in Brazil. He has won 11 straight including a Round 1 Submission win in his LFA Debut at LFA 166 in September. Pereira has embraced Muay Thai since his first fight versus Laurenco. He comes in riding a 5-fight win streak and has Black Belts in both BJJ and Muay Thai. The two have combined for 14 finishes, 12 in the first round.

– Our second fight of the night features 2023 Fan’s Choice winner for “Female Fighter of the Year” Lany Silva (4-0) versus Naizi Cantanhede (6-0) in a battle of unbeaten Strawweights. Silva won 3 fights with the LFA in 2023, but this will be her first appearance on the main card. Hailing from Salvador, but now living and training in Sao Paulo, she is a National Kickboxing champion and Pan-American Jiu Jitsu Champion. Cantanhede also had a successful 2023, winning a pair of fights after a 5-year layoff. She has 3 finishes in 6 Pro wins and has definitely faced tougher competition than Silva. This will be a good test for the Fan’s Choice Award winner.

– We kick off the Main Card with Sao Paulo bragging rights on the line as grappler Vinicius Pires (8-1) meets striker Apollo Gomes (9-1). Pires has won 7 straight fights including back-to-back fights in the LFA. He is a Black Belt in BJJ with 3 wins via submission and he trains out of Mehhh MMA in Sao Paulo. Gomes trains with the killers at Chute Boxe Diego Lima in Sao Paulo and has won back-to-back fights. He has 7 finishes in 9 wins with 3 coming in the first round.

Producer’s Summary from AJ Pacheco