RFA and Legacy FC champions collide in LFA 1 main event

Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) CEO Ed Soares announced today that the inaugural LFA event will kick off the new year in Texas. This will be the inaugural LFA event after the strategic merger between leading developmental organizations Legacy Fighting Championship (Legacy FC) and Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA). In the main event, Legacy FC bantamweight champion Steven “Ocho” Peterson will battle RFA bantamweight champion Leandro “Pitbull” Higo for the inaugural LFA bantamweight world title. LFA 1 – Peterson vs. Higo will take place Friday, January 13th at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas. The entire main card will be televised live and nationwide on AXS TV at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.

“I’m excited to kick off 2017 with the inaugural LFA event in Texas”, stated Soares. “Legacy FC and RFA have helped launch the careers of over 100 fighters that have reached the UFC.  On Friday, January 13th, the two promotions merge to form the leading developmental organization in MMA. In the main event of LFA 1, we will crown our first LFA champion with a bantamweight title unification bout between Legacy FC champion Steven “Ocho” Peterson and RFA champion Leandro “Pitbull” Higo.”

Former Legacy FC President Mick Maynard shared similar sentiments to those of RFA President Ed Soares about the merger of their two promotions heading into the debut event of the newly minted LFA.

“I am extremely excited to see this historic first event of the world’s largest and premiere developmental league for MMA,” stated Maynard. “Our very first LFA unification bout features two bantamweight title holders that haven’t lost in 4-5 years and they have very aggressive submission games. Both are young, exciting prospects, and a perfect representation of LFA.”

Tickets for LFA 1 – Peterson vs. Higo are available for purchase NOW through TheBombFactory.com. Tickets start at $40 for General Admission. Priority seating is also available at $60, $80, $100, and $150.

In September, Legacy FC and RFA officials announced that they would be merging to form the premier developmental organization in MMA starting in January 2017. Legacy FC and RFA have launched the careers of over 100 athletes that have reached the pinnacle of MMA by competing in the UFC. The two promotions now officially join forces with the inaugural LFA event on Friday, January 13th.

The main event of LFA 1 will feature a highly-anticipated title unification bout. Legacy FC bantamweight champion Steven “Ocho” Peterson (14-4) and RFA bantamweight champion Leandro “Pitbull” Higo (16-2) have established themselves as the premier 135-pound prospects in the sport. The two proud champions will battle for the inaugural LFA bantamweight title and the undisputed claim of being the division’s top prospect.

Peterson is one of MMA’s top prospects to hail from the talent-rich state of Texas. “Ocho” is also one of the most popular fighters in the history of Legacy FC as he has competed for the promotion 10 times over the past five years. The dynamic Texan punisher put a stamp on the division with a jaw-dropping submission of the reigning bantamweight champion Manny Vazquez this past June. Peterson rendered the champion unconscious with a Rear Naked Choke in the main event of Legacy FC 56 to take his rightful place atop the division’s throne. He was then set to rule over his domain with his first title defense in October, but his challenger Mark De La Rosa decided not to test the fearsome Legacy FC kingpin and was a no-show on the day of the fight despite weighing-in the day before.

Higo is one of the sport’s most scintillating prospects to come from the country of Brazil, the birthplace of MMA. The Pitbull Brothers trained fighter has finished three highly-regarded  prospects during his reign of terror over the RFA bantamweight division. This culminated in April, when he fought the surging powerhouse Joey Miolla for the vacant RFA bantamweight title with UFC President Dana White sitting cageside filming his hit television show Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight. Higo pulled off the comeback victory with a Rear Naked Choke in a title bout that saw him survive two brutal slams. Higo’s title winning performance at RFA 37 is in the running for “Fight of the Year” and rivals the Kentucky Derby claim of being “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”.