LFA 68 was a Mystic Lake Casino hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota
Nate Jennerman vs Rafael Barbosa – Featherweight
Main event
Round 1
Barbosa bounces around well on the feet but doesn’t move his head well. Jennerman is flat-footed, slow and doesn’t cut off the cage well. After chasing Barbosa around the cage, Jennerman runs into a short elbow from Barbosa. He gets dropped and pounded out. 🚩Barbosa wins by TKO
Jennerman had terrible footwork, and was fighting reckless. He was fighting as if Barbosa had nothing for him. Barbosa ate a couple of shots, but he was elusive. Neither of these guys are UFC ready.
Ralph Acosta vs Raufeon Stots – Bantamweight
Round 1
Acosta gets Stots down and puts on a guillotine. Stots is able to pull his head out and get on top and ride his opponent.
Round 2
Stots hits Acosta with a Low-blow early. They come together and swing. Acosta gets taken down and wrestled.
Round 3
Stots throws some good kicks and Acosta is a little lazy and lowers his hands a little bit. Acosta gets dropped. Stots gets in a high half-guard and rides his opponent. 🚩 Stots wins by unanimous decision
Stots is a great wrestler with OK striking. I’d like to see him against a high level jiu jitsu player. His wrestling solves most of his problems but, I’d like to see what happens when its taken away. Acosta wasn’t willing to try to get to his feet in this fight. I was disappointed in that.
Maycon Mendonca vs Bobby Lee – Welterweight
Round 1
Mendonca looks bad on the feet, but Lee decides not to throw with him and decides to wrestle instead. Lee gets rocked with a short right as he rushes in. Mendonca is unable to finish, and Lee is able to stand and clinch. Mendonca finishes the round on top
Round 2
Lee takes down Mendonca, then lets him get up. Technique from both guys go out the window, and Mendonca knees Lee as he grabs on to his leg. The ref takes one point from Mendonca for the illegal strike. They slug it out with some clinch fighting.
Round 3
Lee keeps on shooting, Mendonca gets in Lee’s guard and rides him for a bit, and beats him up as the fight ends. 🚩 Mendonca wins by unanimous decision.
I feel like I’ve watched most of Bobby Lee’s fights in the LFA, and he has one of the lowest fight IQs I’ve ever seen. He just makes silly moves. This is my second time seeing Mendonca, and he is very sloppy. He doesn’t use his range very well, and his ground game is weak.
Mike Rhodes vs Christian Torres – Light Heavyweight
Round 1
Rhodes keeps his hands down and clinches early. Torres reverses the position and Rhodes already looks tired. Torres hits Rhodes with some “Travis Brown” Elbows that buckle him for a little bit. They stand and Torres pieces Rhodes up on the feet.
Round 2
The two start to box , and Rhodes shoots. They clinch and strike. Rhodes takes Torres down. Torres looks terrible on the the ground and Rhodes is Terrible on the ground as well.
Round 3
Torres clinches this time and Rhodes reverses position. Torres reverses the position and tries to throw some elbows, they separate and Rhodes takes Torres down. Rhodes cant do anything on top and Torres cant do anything off his back. 🚩 Rhodes wins by unanimous decision
Rhodes is very experienced and had a stint in the UFC, a young fighter could make a name off him very easily. The man is slow with poor hands and a bad grappling game. I think “lay and pray” is one of his styles. Torres is just poor on the ground and bad in transitions.
JP St. Louis vs Derek Varin – Welterweight
Round 1
Varin looks good bouncing a round, but St. Louis closes the distance and takes him down. Varin seems to fight well off his back, but he does not make an effort to get back to his feet. St. Louis takes his back and slaps on the RNC. 🚩 St. Louis wins by submission.
St. Louis looked good everywhere, its a little bit like he surprised Varin, who showed no urgency. I’d like to see if St. Louis has any striking, in his next fight. His offensive grappling looks legit.
Tyler Mathison vs Leville Simpson – Welterweight
Round 1
Simpson is bigger and just a better striker than Mathison. Mathison shoots and works to take the back. Simpson is able to get out and get on top. Mathison is able to get to his feet. They slug it out on the feet and it is evident that Simpson is more polished on the feet. Simpson drops Mathison late in the round, with an elbow
Round 2
Simpson has legit Muay Thai and is picking Mathison apart with strikes. Mathison clinches, works to get into mount and takes the back. He seems to like to try neck cranks when he has the back, but its not working. Simpson reverses the position and beats up Mathison on the ground.
Round 3
Simpson’s stand up game is obviously superior. Mathison clinches and takes him down. Simpson explodes and gets to his feet and tees off on Mathison. Mathison clinches, takes Simpson to the ground and flails on him as the horn sounds. 🚩 Simpson wins by split decision
Simpson is a fantastic striker, but his ground game is very limited. He has no sprawl, and he just uses his physicality to get out out positions. Mathison has poor striking, poor jiu jitsu, but a fantastic wrestling game. If Simpson can get a ground game going, he’ll be a scary guy.
Joel Bauman vs Bobby Downs – Middleweight
Round 1
Bauman has an intense stare-down. Bauman clinches and throws elbows, works his knees and separates. Bauman’s hands needs work but Downs cant punish him. Downs looks tired after the clinch and drops his hands. Bauman drops Downs with a right hand, pounds on him, and hits him with a head kick as he stands back up. Downs crumples. 🚩 Bauman wins by KO
Bauman was not really tested. In fact, Downs looked like prey, in this fight. Bauman has good physical tools, but he looks to me like he lacks hand speed. He also doesn’t move his head well. He can be a devastating fighter if improvements are made