So LFA 81 took place in Costa Mesa, California. There were some good fighters there. King of the Cage always lends some good talent to LFA when they come into town.
Main Event
Jamall Emmers vs Rafael Barbosa – Featherweight
Round 1
Emmers follows Barbosa around the ring, and Barbosa does some circling/running and tries to catch Emmers with some punches.
Round 2
Emmers is able to get Barbosa down after more running and circling
Round 3
Emmers gets Barbosa down and is able to lock in the triangle choke to get the win.🚩Emmers wins by Tech. Submission
Barbosa popped back up like he didn’t go to sleep, but I wasn’t sure. I try to trust the ref when its this close. I am not a fan of Barbosa, I just think he runs and he doesn’t really offer anything, I’m also not a big fan of Emmers, but I do recognize that Emmers has some big wins on his record. Who ever plans out Emmers’ fights does an awesome job, his fight selection is top notch. IMO – with his record, he should be in the UFC. Is he UFC caliber? I dont think so.
Jacob Rosales vs Salaiman Ahmadyar – 160
Round 1
Rosales rocks Ahmadyar on the feet for a while, but he cant seem to step in and get the finish.
Round 2
Same as the first but Rosales score with some big leg kicks
Round 3
Ahmadyar controls Rosales better and score some big shots to win the round. 🚩 Rosales wins by unanimous decision
Rosales’ striking looks a little bit rudimentary. I saw nothing really special about it. He lost to Jonathan Pierce on the Contender Series, and I dont rate Pierce AT ALL, right now. Rosales’ footwork needs some work, and I didn’t like that he slowed down. Ahmadyar can get a lot better. He needs better technical striking, and I’d like him to add an arm triangle to his game.
Christian Aguilera vs Glaucio Eliziario Welterweight
Round 1
Aguilera takes Eliziario down and beats him up on the floor
Round 2
Aguilera takes Eliziario down and beats him up on the floor
Round 3
Eliziario is able to take the back and win the round. 🚩 Aguilera wins by unanimous decision
I really wanted to see if Aguilera still had the power that he was known for. I didn’t really find out in this fight. Eliziario looked lost on the ground for a big part of this fight. Aguilera just exploited his opponent’s weakness
Sam Hughes vs Lisa Mauldin – Flyweight
Round 1
Hughes is able to dodge some punches and get on the inside to land her own strikes
Round 2
Hughes is a just more efficient
Round 3
Hughes is able to land some shots, get some takedowns and take the back at the end of the round. 🚩 Hughes wins by unanimous decision
I’ve seen Sam Hughes put on a show at XKO Summer Bash, and I knew she was too much for Lisa Mauldin. I think Mauldin was trying to score points for the judges, Hughes was looking to hurt her opponent. This fight gives Hughes some much needed exposure, and we’ll see where she goes from here.
Vince Cachero vs Marvin Garcia – Bantamweight
Round 1
Garcia gets on top and grinds on him for a while. Cachero gets up and beats Garcia up on the feet.
Round 2
Garcia throws some wild shots, he gets taken down and beaten up on the ground. 🚩 Cachero wins by TKO
Cachero was supposed to win this one. Garcia didn’t have the gas tank for this fight, and I tell you what, Garcia didn’t look very bad. If he works on his boxing, and get his cardio game nice, he’d be in the fight.
Leandro Gomes vs Yuma Horiuchi – Bantamweight
Round 1
Close and technical grappling match with some stand up involved.
Round 2
Horiuchi with some pressure and does well defenisively with his Jiu Jitsu
Round 3
Pressure by Horiuchi. With fantastic defensive Jiu Jitsu. Gomes cant seem to pin him down and Horiuchi backs Gomes up against the cage. 🚩 Gomes wins by Split decision
Horiuchi won this fight on my score card. His fighting style kind of reminds me of Harvey Park – He comes forward, with little head movement and just tries to snuff his opponent out. His defensive Jiu Jitsu is very good, and he got out several attempts by Gomes. Gomes is still good, he’s not very quick on the ground, but he got Jits. His striking definitely needs to improve though.
Vanessa Demopoulos vs Loveth Young – Strawweight
Round 1
Young is just beating up Demopoulos on the feet. She seem to have a clear advantage in the stand up game. Every time that Demopoulos tries to get on the inside she gets punished.
Round 2
Demopoulos pulls guard gets a sweep and beats up young on the the floor for most of the round.
Round 3
Demopoulos is able to pull guard again, take Young down and take the back. 🚩 Demopoulos wins by unanimous decision.
This was a fantastic fight. The ground game saved Demopoulos here, she had to pull guard to have any real chance to win, and it worked for her. She showed plenty of heart and overcame a lot of adversity. She has always been scrappy, and this girl has a dog in her. She brought the fight where she was comfortable and got the win. Young has a bright future, and I like that she got the Jiu Jitsu test so early in her career. She’s gonna have to learn some technical escapes and get better on the ground, but her hands look solid at 115
Demopoulos was unbroken