SATURDAY, MARCH 23
LFA 179: NETO vs. ANTUNES
Presented By:
BETONLINE
MAIN EVENT:
CHAMPION
GERALDO NETO
vs.
CHALLENGER
VANILTO ANTUNES
WELTERWEIGHT WORLD TITLE FIGHT
ARENA 1
PARQUE OLÍMPICO
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
LIVE on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — LFA CEO Ed Soares announced that the promotion will return to Brazil with the Welterweight Championship in March. LFA 179 will be the sixth LFA event to be held on a Saturday and it will be the fifteenth LFA event to take place in Brazil after the promotion’s international expansion began in the summer of 2021. This will also be the fifth LFA event to take place in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which is home to Brazil’s most famous city with an eponymous name. LFA has also visited the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Pernambuco.
LFA 179: Neto vs. Antunes, presented by BetOnline, takes place Saturday, March 23rd inside Arena 1 at Parque Olímpico (Olympic Park) in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main event will feature a welterweight title fight when champion Geraldo Neto defends his title against top contender Vanilto Antunes. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT.
“We are excited to bring the Welterweight Championship to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at LFA 179,” stated Soares. “Rio de Janeiro is where the LFA began its international expansion in the summer of 2021 and there is no city like it on earth. LFA 179 will take place at Parque Olímpico, which serves as the Olympic Training Center in the country and hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics. The main event will feature the first title defense of the LFA welterweight champion Geraldo Neto. He will face top prospect Vanilto Antunes. This is the perfect title fight for our return to Cidade Maravilhosa!”
Neto (18-6) knew his LFA debut bout against Argemiro Delmandes could have title implications riding on the outcome of their bout at LFA 159. The BJJ black belt’s intuition was right. Neto came into that bout with a reputation for his fierce finishing ability and wasted no time displaying it by locking in a Rear Naked Choke in the first round. The win earned him a shot at the title against Vanilto Antunes at LFA 162, when Carlos Prates withdrew from the bout to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series. However, Antunes was then forced to withdraw with an injury. Neto was then rebooked to face Magnus Conrado for the title at LFA 166. The man known as “Luan Santana” dominated the fellow BJJ black belt to capture the title. The 33-year-old Mato-Grossense is now set to defend his title against Antunes in a championship bout that fight fans have been anxiously awaiting.
Antunes (15-6) is a man that earned his shot at the LFA welterweight title the good old-fashioned way. This happened when the Muay Thai stylist left zero doubt about who the new “King of Rio” was by emerging victorious in a winner takes all double title fight in December of 2022. This happened when two of Brazil’s top regional promotions The Conqueror and Favela Kombat squared off in the state of Rio de Janeiro with the winner of the main event taking home both promotions’ titles. The Tata Fight Team product defeated UFC and TUF veteran Wendell Oliveira via TKO. The end came when a doctor called a stop to things after two rounds and Antunes walked away with both The Conqueror and Favela Kombat welterweight titles. Now the 29-year-old Fluminense looks to add his first world title to his collection when he battles Neto in a long-awaited title fight.
Currently Announced Fight Card (Main Card will be available worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS®):
Main Event | Welterweight Title Bout (170 lb)
Geraldo Neto (18-6) vs. Vanilto Antunes (15-6)
Co-Main Event | Featherweight Bout (145 lb)
José Delano (13-3) vs. Allan Villalba (17-6)
Middleweight Bout (185 lb)
Lucas Fernando (9-3) vs. João Paulo Silva (8-2)
Women’s Strawweight Bout (115 lb)
Yasmin Castanho (6-1) vs. Natalia Alves (5-0)
Featherweight Bout (145 lb)
Icaro Brito (7-1) vs. Felipe Oliveira (9-3)
Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)
Mateus Soares (6-1) vs. Alexandre Junior (5-1)
Flyweight Bout (125 lb)
Luis Felipe (6-0) vs. Werick Douglas (5-2)
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 ARENA 1:
Arena 1 is an indoor stadium in Barra da Tijuca in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The venue hosted basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics as well as wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. As with a number of other venues in the Barra Olympic Park, Arena 1 was transformed after the games to become part of the Olympic Training Center.
