So, the LFA rolled into Riverside, California and put on some fun fights for “LFA 74”. I was personally interested to see Matthew Colquhoun on the card – He’s a Jamaican guy, and he represents a growing MMA movement in Jamaica. He’s a Sambo practitioner, and he represented Jamaica in Pan-Am Games. I believe he brought home a title. Jamaica also has a new promotion that puts on fights. The Rough Fight League.
Anyway
Main Event
Renan Ferreira vs Jared Vanderaa – Heavyweight
Round 1
Vanderaa and Ferreira trade leg kicks. Vanderaa rocks Ferreira to the temple after absorbing a ton on leg kicks
Round 2
Ferreira catches Vanderaa with a right and sits him down, he then brutally tries to pound him out on the ground. Vanderaa is somehow able to get to his feet and take Ferreira down. Ferreira then wraps up a triangle and wins by sub. 🚩Ferreira wins by submission.
Ferreira uses his physical tools very well. He is light on his feet, and his length is the biggest “problema” here for many people. Ferreira hurts people. The Heavyweight division in the UFC is so sparse right now, that Ferreira could easily be in the UFC. Vanderaa was trying to get through this fight on grit and toughness alone after his leg-kick gameplan failed, it didn’t work out well for him.
Ryan Lilley vs Kevin Wirth – Bantamweight
Round 1
Wirth keeps his hands very low, and is throwing kicks, and is almost fighting with a point-karate type stance.
Round 2
Lilley is over-respecting Wirth’s striking, and Wirth is just point fighting.
Round 3
Lilley for some reason, cannot get on the inside and Wirth continues to pick him apart from the outside. 🚩 Wirth wins by unanimous decision
Lilley looked either scared or injured, he was biting on all the fakes and feints and he did not dare get on the inside, Maybe Wirth hurt him with something that put the fear of god in him. Wirth’s style needs accuracy and speed. He should definitely work on his accuracy
Moses Murrieta vs Lucas Rota – Middleweight
Round 1
Lucas Rota just comes out and throws hands and destroys Murrieta. 🚩 Rota wins by TKO
Murrieta has soft boxing, and Rota wasn’t trying to do anything soft. The fight ended so soon, that its really hard to break down anything that happened. Rota just went full terminator-destroyer on Murrieta. I’d like to see more from Rota.
Liudvik Sholinian vs Vince Cachero – Bantamweight
Round 1
There is some early feeling out, and then Cachero starts to touch Sholinian, the Armenian wants to clinch after that.
Round 2
Cachero is sprawling and wining the boxing match. Sholinian is able to get Cachero down, but I feel that Cachero is doing a lot of damage from the bottom. Sholinian is just looking to grapple.
Round 3
Cachero sprawls a few times and gets taken down and controlled for a good part of the round. Cachero does more damage on the feet. The fight ends. 🚩Sholinian wins by Split decision
I think that Cachero won this fight. There was a lot of “laying and praying” going on here and I feel like Sholinian was just trying to hold Cachero down, to not take damage from the man. Cachero needs more technical wrestling and tight Jiu Jitsu go get through guys like these. Tough loss, because I think Cachero won.
Steve Kozola vs Salvador Bacerra Jr. – Lightweight
Round 1
Feeling out early. Bacerra is able to get a takedown, and its pretty even on the feet.
Round 2
Kozola wraps Bacerra up on the cage and punches him in the face. Bacerra looks confused and trapped, pinned up against the cage.
Round 3
Bacerra comes on strong and Kozola looks a little gassed and seems to be going for the takedown all time time. He hammers Kozola on the ground as the round comes to an end. 🚩 Bacerra Jr. wins by unanimous decision
Salvador Bacerra looks good. He has problems dealing with the grappling, but his overall standup game looks very good. Kozola needs to work more on his grappling and practice striking after grappling.
Anthony Jimenez vs Leandro Gomes – Bantamweight
Round 1
Gomes comes out whooping ass and throwing wild stuff. Jimenez takes Gomes down early and they scramble up with Gomes threatening some submissions. Gomes works for a kneebar, and locks it up. 🚩 Gomes wins by submission.
Gomes was very impressive. Accuracy is very necessary when you have a style like Gomes’, and I’m curious to see how accurate he is in certain fights. Jimenez was just ignorant to the leg-lock, and he just left his leg out there. I’m curious to see Gomes against someone that is less naive. Needless to say, I’ll be keeping my eye on Leandro Gomes
Matthew Colquhoun vs Spike Carlyle – Lightweight
Round 1
Carlyle goes for the takedown. Good defense by Colquhoun. Colquhoun seems to be playing it safe and not trying to get on the inside as much. He chases Carlyle down after trying to take his back and gets knocked out with a spinning elbow. Carlyle wins by KO
I want Colquhoun to succeed as a Mixed Martial Artist. I have a soft spot for Jamaican fighters, and there is so much talent on my island, that I want to see it represented. Sure, I’m a Texan as well, and I have a soft spot for Texans too, but Jamaica is in my blood. Colquhoun should move up to 170. I think its a joke being 6’2 and fighting at 155. You lose so much strength and muscle mass when you cut so much weight, so I think 170 would be ideal for him. If I’m not mistaken, he’s fought Combat Sambo at around 180. I think he also has to be first in the fight. He was just reacting to Carlyle, and almost fighting defensively for most of the fight. I think he might have been fighting defensively because he’s not confident in his strength. He’s lost to some good fighters, and I think he can definitely come back and get a lot better. Spike Carlyle was more aggressive on the feet and had bad intentions, I’m also interested to see where Carlyle goes from here also.
Leandro Gomes was unbroken