Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) CEO Ed Soares announced recently that the promotion will feature the sport’s top two light-heavyweight prospects when the LFA makes its first visit to Missouri on the first day of September.
The main event of LFA 21 will feature a light-heavyweight war between undefeated American prospect Kyle Noblitt and undefeated Brazilian prospect Antônio Paulo “Montanha” Branjão. LFA 21 – Noblitt vs. Branjão takes place Friday, September 1st at the Branson Convention Center in Branson, Missouri.
“I am excited to bring the LFA to Missouri in September,” stated Soares. “RFA hosted four shows all over Missouri and it has proven to be one of the most talent-rich states in the country. We look forward to building on that success at LFA 21 on September 1st. Kyle Noblitt is the top light-heavyweight prospect in Missouri and he will face one of the top light-heavyweight prospects in Brazil, when he faces Antônio Paulo Branjão in the main event of LFA 21.”
Noblitt (8-0) is widely considered one of the top prospects in the United States at both heavyweight and light-heavyweight. After making his pro MMA debut in 2015, Noblitt unleashed a path of destruction in both weight classes much to the delight of fans in his home state and MMA pundits alike. The Missouri mauler has finished seven of the eight men he has faced, six inside of round one, and two in the same night. Noblitt was sitting cageside when the RFA visited his hometown in December and now the 27-year-old is set to headline LFA 21 in front of his home crowd as he looks to solidify his claim as the top light-heavyweight prospect in the world.
Branjão (4-0) is ready to make his highly-anticipated international MMA debut after making a name for himself in his home country of Brazil. After dispatching his first three opponents via KO or TKO in less than a round, the man known as “Montanha” moved up to heavyweight to participate on the third season of the UFC’s hit reality television show The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil (TUF: Brazil 3). Branjão reached the quarter-finals on the show before returning to 205-pounds where he continued his winning ways against Stefano Alves. The 29-year-old now looks for his fifth stoppage win in his fifth fight when he travels to the United States to headline LFA 21.
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The co-main event of LFA 21 will feature the LFA debut of the 2016 RFA Fans’ Choice Awards “Prospect of the Year” winner Katy Collins (7-2). “Red Dragon” made a spectacular RFA debut this past December at RFA 46, which was the final RFA event before RFA and Legacy FC merged to form LFA. Collins is currently ranked in the Top 5 of the AXS TV Fights Women’s Pound-For-Pound Rankings and looks to build on the momentum of a dominant win she earned last month at Bellator 181. She will make her LFA debut in her hometown of Branson, Missouri inside the same venue where she won her RFA debut eight months ago.
In the lightweight division, “Downtown” T.J. Brown (9-4) will make his LFA debut after competing three times inside the RFA Octagon. The Arkansas native is a fan favorite regardless of which state he fights in due to his wildly entertaining, all-action, style of fighting. Brown will need that experience when when he faces Trey Ogden (8-1) in the featured lightweight bout at LFA 21. The Bellator vet Ogden is a surefire prospect that trains alongside UFC stars and RFA greats James Krause and Tim Elliott in Kansas City, Missouri.
– Kyle Noblitt (8-0) vs. Antônio Paulo Branjão (4-0)
– Katy Collins (7-2) vs. TBD
– T.J. Brown (9-4) vs. Trey Ogden (8-1)
