BY RYAN BEVINS, ON X (FORMERLY TWITTER) @BEVOIS
As we enter the final weeks leading up to the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, one can not help but remember the immortal words of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who is the founder of the modern Olympics: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
This Olympic spirit will be on full display this week at LFA 188: Sweeney vs. Do Nascimento as the LFA kicks off the month with the 2024 Summer Olympics opening two weeks later in Paris, France. Accordingly, LFA 188 was strategically stacked with 26 fighters representing 10 countries across 5 continents.
This includes MMA prospects from the United States of America, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, France, Israel, South Korea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and Nigeria in a fight card that was carefully crafted to highlight two things. The global sporting spirit that this summer will entail as well as the LFA’s efforts to continue developing top MMA talent worldwide.
LFA 188 will feature 13 bouts, but in the spirit of the Olympics, we have created a guide highlighting the nations and prospects that will be competing in all 8 men’s divisions as well as two bouts in the women’s strawweight division.
Get your tickets for LFA 188: Sweeney vs. Do Nascimento
NORTH AMERICA
LFA 188 will take place in Chandler, Arizona, which is a suburb of Phoenix. This will give the American and Mexican fighters the largest fan base inside the sold out Gila River Resorts & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass. Naturally, the United States with ten fighters and Mexico with five fighters also make up the largest contingent of athletes competing on the card. That includes at least one fighter from North America in each of the 13 bouts on the fight card. This will give the home crowd something to cheer about from the first bout of the night until the championship headliner in the main event.
USA: John Sweeney, Kasey Tanner, Stan Dorsainvil, Alik Lorenz, Chance Ikei, Eric Fimbres, Jeremiah Robinson, Leon Mackey Jr, Brent Campbell, and Quinn Williams.
Mexico: Jose Delgado, Leslie Hernandez, Chris Renteria, Mauro Gutierrez, and Miriam Nazar.
Prospect Watch: The standout North American in this group is also fighting in the main event. John “Hollywood Sweeney (13-3) came to the LFA in the first year of its inception in 2017. He won his professional MMA debut at LFA 8 and his second fight three months later at LFA 17. These two fights took place in South Carolina and North Carolina respectively and set the wheels in motion for the man who is now the biggest homegrown prospect in the Carolinas. In fact, Sweeney is a protégé of legendary South Carolinian fighter and UFC star Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and possesses a similar karate based style. However, unlike his mentor, he also shows a willingness to grapple due to his strong wrestling base. This well-rounded skillset and elite experience has been pivotal on Sweeney’s run to the title, which started two summers ago. In that time, he defeated a trio of Brazilian standouts in Ricardo Dias, Ary Farias, and Allan Begosso. It was his most recent win against Begosso that saw him capture the LFA bantamweight world title. Now after 13 months of inactivity due to a near booking on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), Sweeney is back to defend his title for the first time.
SOUTH AMERICA
The second biggest group of fighters competing at LFA 188 are traveling up from South America. This includes four prospects from Brazil, which is the mecca of MMA on the continent and one fighter from Colombia. This will happen just six days after LFA 187: Brazil vs. Latin America, where fighters from these two regions faced off in a team competition. This highlighted just how deep the MMA talent pool has become in South America. The LFA also currently has 7 champions from Brazil, which makes South America the most decorated continent in the LFA at the moment.
Brazil: Rafael Do Nascimento, Thiago Belo, Lucas Faria, and Lívio Ribeiro.
Colombia: Johan Rodríguez.
Prospect Watch: The standout South American in this group is the other half of the main event, Rafael “Mulisha” Do Nascimento (9-2). Just like Sweeney, Do Nascimento’s run to the title began in July of 2022. After taking his talents abroad and making his way to Los Angeles, he found the Machida Karate dojo, which is home to former UFC champion Lyoto Machida, Bellator veteran Chinzô Machida, and former LFA featherweight champion Bruno Souza. That move alone will set up a showdown between two prospects training under the two most legendary karate practitioners in MMA, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (Sweeney) and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida (Do Nascimento). However, Do Nascimento also proved to have a diverse skillset in his LFA debut where he submitted Marcus McGhee in the first round. McGhee is now 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the UFC with Do Nascimento being the only man to defeat him. Then four months after tapping McGhee, Do Nascimento starched divisional standout Just Wetzell. This earned him his first shot at LFA gold in a bout with Jerrell Hodge that ended in a narrow decision win for Hodge. Now at LFA 188, the Brazilian looks to address some unfinished business by capturing the LFA world title.
EUROPE
Next we will take a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to put the spotlight on Europe’s lone representative at LFA 188. That would happen to be a fighter from France, which will be hosting the Olympics that begin later this month. Europe’s contribution to MMA has helped reshape the sport by producing some of the UFC’s biggest stars in Conor McGregor (Ireland), Michael Bisping (United Kingdom), and more recently Jiří Procházka (Czech Republic). However, France has recently emerged with the UFC visting the country for the first time in September of 2022 and a second time 12 months later. Both of these events were headlined by Ciryl Gane, who is the first French born champion in UFC history.
France: Jade Jorand.
Prospect Watch: Jade “The Princess” Jorand (4-2) will be making her LFA debut at LFA 188 to much fanfare and anticipation. France is the host country of the 2024 Summer Olympics and is a powerhouse across most sports. However, a French born fighter has yet to fight in the LFA Octagon until now. While francophones have been eagerly awaiting an LFA debut of one of their countrymen or countrywomen, that wait is now over and it was well worth the wait. Jorand is the greatest French female kickboxer to crossover to MMA. After one look at her kickboxing résumé, the same claim could be made about her possibly being the greatest European female kickboxer to crossover to MMA. The 23-year-old Bordeaux native is an eleven-time France National Champion in Kickboxing, three-time K-1 Kickboxing World Champion, and two-time K-1 World Cup Champion. The striking sensation has also been rounding out her skillset by training with two of the top female grapplers on the UFC roster. That would be LFA great, former Brazilian Olympic Judo Team member, and UFC women’s flyweight Dione Barbosa and top-ranked UFC women’s strawweight Gillian Robertson, who is the current record-holder for the most submission wins by a woman in UFC history.
ASIA
The continent of Asia is the largest in the world by both land area and population. It covers about 30% of the planet’s total land area and 60% of the world’s population. These numbers combined with the region’s centuries-old tradition in martial arts gives it the largest talent pool to develop MMA prospects. LFA 188 will feature two of these prospects with one hailing from the western side of the continent and the other being from the Far East. This will give a nice sample of Asian talent from the countries that have brought us Krav Maga (Israel) and Taekwondo (South Korea).
Israel: Ilay Barzilay.
South Korea: Ryan Kim.
Prospect Watch: Ilay Barzilay (4-0) is from Herzliya, Israel on the central coast of Israel, which is a nation with a long history in combat sports with Krav Maga being its most well-known system of fighting. Naturally, the man from Israel is more than up to the task to represent his nation and continent on the world stage. Born in Tel Aviv to an Israeli father and Brazilian mother, he tapped into both nation’s fighting cultures when he began training martial arts 10 years ago at the age of 13. Now 23-years-old, Barzilay has already picked up a pair of victories for the LFA since signing with the promotion last summer. Known for his toughness and striking pedigree, Barzilay has also trained extensively in his mother’s homeland of Brazil at The Fighting Nerds in São Paulo and holds the rank of brown belt in jiu-jitsu. Barzilay now calls Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, Nevada home, where he trains alongside LFA great, UFC star, and fellow Israeli standout Natan Levy. Barzilay possesses the same toughness and aggressive fighting style that made Levy a can’t miss prospect and one of the promotion’s most popular fighters to come from the Asian continent.
AFRICA
The continent of Africa recently became the final inhabited continent to produce a UFC champion. First, there was LFA great Kamaru Usman (Nigeria) in March of 2019. Then came Israel Adesanya (Nigeria) the following month. Then two years later in 2021, Francis Ngannou (Cameroon) gave the continent its third champion. That trend continued this year, when Dricus du Plessis (South Africa) won the UFC middleweight world title at the first UFC pay-per-view event of the year. Fittingly, his first title defense will take place at UFC 305 next month against his rival Adesanya in what will be the first time in history that a UFC title fight will feature two African born fighters. This has made Africa one of the most exciting continents for MMA talent and LFA 188 will feature three fighters from Africa looking to put their name and country on the map.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Cedric Katambwa.
Liberia: Thomas Powell.
Nigeria: Monte Ogbonna-Morrison.
Prospect Watch: Cedric Katambwa (4-0) was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and spent time between the capital city of Kinshasa and Mbuji Mayi in the south-central area of the country. He and his family moved to the United States when he was 12, but as far as his fighting career is concerned, he is a man that has grown up inside the LFA Octagon since turning pro at the end of 2021. According to Tapology.com, the DRC currently has 547 fighters registered on its comprehensive world database making it one of the African continent’s fastest rising hotbeds for MMA talent. UFC veterans like Dalcha Lungiambula helped lay the groundwork, but the revered Congolese judoka retired from the sport one year after Katambwa turned pro. Now with the recent departure of UFC veteran Marc Diakiese (England by way of DRC), who just joined LFA great and UFC veteran Impa Kasanganay (USA by way of DRC) in the PFL, only one Congolese fighter remains on the UFC roster. That would be LFA alum Ange Loosa (Switzerland by way of DRC). This is something Katambwa hopes to remedy with continued success in the LFA. Now living in Phoenix, Arizona, Katambwa has all the tools and resources to make this dream a reality. He has been training with the Lally brothers (Trevor and Todd) at Arizona Combat Sports for 14 years. In that time, he has formed a brotherhood with the Natividad brothers (Kevin and Christian) that has helped make Katambwa one of the most intriguing lightweight prospects in MMA.
Watch LFA 188: Sweeney vs. Do Nascimento
LFA 188: Sweeney vs. Do Nascimento
You can watch LFA 188: Sweeney vs. Do Nascimento this Friday, July 12th. This will be the fifteenth LFA event to take place in the state of Arizona. LFA 188 will emanate live from Gila River Resorts & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass and will be available to watch worldwide. The Preliminary Card will be available on YouTube and the LFA Fight Network and starts around 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The Main Card airs LIVE on UFC Fight Pass at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
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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 GILA RIVER RESORTS & CASINOS:
Gila River Resorts & Casinos has been operating three locations in Arizona for over 25 years, all owned by the Gila River Indian Community: Wild Horse Pass, Lone Butte, and Vee Quiva. The resorts at Wild Horse Pass and Vee Quiva are Four-Diamond accredited. All three casinos offer a combination of slots, table games, poker and more, and are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Additional information is available at 1-800-946-4452 or at PlayAtGila.com.
