The LFA stayed in Sioux Falls for (what I learned) was phase I. They’ll move on the Phase II a few weeks from now. LFA 87 was the 4tth week of an LFA title-fight series. Bryce Logan won the LFA Lightweight championship beating Jacob Rosales by unanimous decision. Logan used footwork and feints to outscore his opponent, while keeping away from Rosales’ wild shots.
Main Event
Bryce Logan vs Jacob Rosales – Lightweight
Round 1
Back and fourth, Logan having good footwork and Rosales missing a lot of shots.
Round 2
Rosales gets knocked down and cut. Logan still moving well and dodging punches
Round 3
Rosales comes out and whiffs several punches, and Logan dances around well and just feints and sticks and moves.
Round 4
Logan keeps moving and gets a takedown at the end of the round
Round 5
Logan coasts, runs around, and holds Rosales up against the cage to get the win.🚩 Logan wins by unanimous decision
Logan was using one trick in this fight, and it was working, LMAO and its a little cheap to just use one trick to win the LFA title IMO. The trick was movement and feints, and Rosales could never make the the adjustment. Check out my last Review of Rosales at LFA 81. I saw no improvements. I think Logan may have to defend the belt before he can get looked at.
Nick Browne vs Ben Egli – Lightweight
Round 1
Browne is winning on the feet and forces the action a bit and gets the takedown.
Round 2
Egli is slow, and Browne wants to grapple for some reason.
Round 3
Egli grapples and rolls on the ground with Browne. Egli tries some submissions, but they’re never tight enough, Browne powers out of everything.🚩 Browne wins by unanimous decision
Browne was winning on the feet but couldn’t handle’s Egli’s forward pressure, Browne also wanted to force the action and not just take what he was given. Egli has a long way to go. He is horribly slow and he eats shots. A Muay Thai fighter would love to fight him. Also Egli looked competent on the ground, but he didn’t look very strong.
Joaquin Buckley vs Jackie Gosh – Middleweight
Round 1
Buckley is swole, and Jacked. I hope that this is all genetics here, because the guy looks like an absolute specimen. Buckley floats around the cage and hits Gosh with small combos to win the round
Round 2
Buckley floats around and hits Gosh with a small combo and a big right hand, Gosh goes down.🚩 Buckley wins by KO
There was never any adversity for Buckley in this fight, he didn’t have to show any ground game, in fact, he invited Gosh to stand up when he got knocked down at one point. I feel like Buckley never got out of 1st gear. Gosh just looked beaten.
Kai Kamaka vs Michael Stack – Featherweight
Round 1
Hard left by Kamaka which makes Stack start to respect his opponent more. Kamaka has success with some good combos.
Round 2
They go back and fourth. Stack has some good success on the feet
Round 3
Kamaka puts a blanket on the fight, and lays and prays for a significant portion on the fight.🚩 Kamaka wins by unanimous decision
This was a fantastic fight, both guys made adjustments, both guys faced a little bit of adversity, and in reality this was razor close. I think the last round should’ve been a 10-10. Kamaka was stalling for a large potion of the third round, and he just knew that the optics were in his favor. Let me be clear, I think this was a draw. I would love to see a rematch between these two. Both have a very high ceiling. Kamaka, in particular showed a good wrestling game to go along with some crisp striking. Rematch please.
Gerald Scott vs Keith Phathaem – Lightweight
Round 1
Scott comes out, hands down, and Phathaem cant seem to get close enough to Scott. Scott keeps attacking from the outside
Round 2
Phathaem tries to grapple and gets taken down himself. Phathaem eventually just eats strikes on the ground. 🚩Scott wins by TKO
Phathaem is very very basic. He had a problem with measuring and closing the distance, and he had a problem with Scott’s Reach. Scott is also very basic, IMO. He uses his feet well, but he leaves himself wide open, and a good, confident boxer could measure and crush his chin easily. (Maybe I’m way off base here, and Scott just didn’t respect Phathaem) Didn’t see much of a ground game from either guy here.
Zac Pauga vs Zac Cavender – Light Heavyweight
Round 1
Pauga clinches and takes Cavender down and beats him up on the floor. They stand and he hits Cavender with elbows and a big knee, both guys get cut.
Round 2
Pauga uses good footwork, and gets the takedown and does some damage on the floor
Round 3
Pauga clinches and throws some elbows. 🚩Pauga wins by unanimous decision.
I was really impressed with Pauga. This is his first pro fight, and he wasn’t afraid to get physical up close, that is both good and bad because he did eat a few shots. I was also really impressed with his engine. He looks fully hydrated at 6’0, 205 lbs and I thought he had a fantastic engine. He’s more of a work-truck than a Ferrari, but he goes for a long time. I’d like to see him get a more technical in his Muay Thai clinch game. Also Pauga had no problem fighting up close with the taller fighter. Cavender just really got overshadowed by Pauga here, Cavender threw good single strikes, but looked tired after the first couple of clinches.
Kamaka and Stack were unbroken