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LFA 173: Bekoev vs. Fernando is a mixed martial arts event promoted by Legacy Fighting Alliance and will take place on December 15, 2023 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Fight Card
Main Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Middleweight Lucas Fernando (c) vs. Azamat Bekoev (ic) Middleweight Championship
Strawweight Giovanna Canuto vs. Natalia Kuziutina Women's Strawweight Championship
Lightweight Aireon Tavarres vs. Mitch Ramirez
Welterweight Sarek Shields vs. Alfonso Leyva
Flyweight Jordan Harris vs. Aupuni Pagaoa
Middleweight Oseyiomon Oiyemhonlan vs. Trent Miller
Preliminary Card
Bantamweight Ronny Hauser vs. Eduardo Penha
Lightweight Tyler Jones vs. Ilay Barzilay
Lightweight Pat Jones vs. Shane Shapiro
Background
LFA will conclude its 2023 schedule in December with its debut in the “Fight Capital of the World” at LFA 173. The inaugural Las Vegas event will feature a Championship Doubleheader in the middleweight and women’s strawweight divisions. This event will take place at the Palms Casino Resort on the eve of UFC 296, which also takes place in Las Vegas and will serve as the UFC’s year-end event as well. LFA 173 will be the first LFA event to take place in the state of Nevada.
LFA 173: Fernando vs. Bekoev takes place Friday, December 15th at the Pearl Theater located inside the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Pearl Theater is Las Vegas’ premier concert theater. It has provided the setting for numerous UFC Fight Night and The Ultimate Fighter Finale events, making the venue synonymous with the sport of MMA in the city of Las Vegas and around the world.
The main event will feature a middleweight title unification bout when champion Lucas Fernando battles interim champion Azamat Bekoev. The co-main event will feature an interim women’s strawweight title fight as top undefeated prospect Giovanna Canuto faces Olympic Judo bronze medalist Natalia Kuziutina.
“We are excited to feature Championship Doubleheader at our inaugural event in Las Vegas at LFA 173,” stated LFA CEO Ed Soares. “The main event will see the second title unification bout in LFA history when LFA middleweight champion Lucas Fernando battles LFA interim middleweight champion Azamat Bekoev. Then in the co-main event, Las Vegas resident and top undefeated prospect Giovanna Canuto will fight for the LFA interim women’s strawweight title. She was originally scheduled to challenge our reigning champion Rose Conceição for the title, but Conceição was forced to withdraw due to an injury. Canuto will now face Russia’s Natalia Kuziutina.”
Fernando (9-2) comes from one of Brazil’s most famous MMA lineages. Marco Ruas won the UFC 7 one-night tournament. He would then teach Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo, who won “Fight of the Year” in 2001 for his epic five-round heavyweight title fight with Randy Couture at UFC 31. Now just like his mentor, Rizzo, and Ruas before him, Fernando has brought the same grit and determination to the LFA Octagon. The 26-year-old protégé comes from MMA royalty and quickly made them proud in his first four LFA appearances. This includes a flying knee knockout in the LFA’s debut event in Brazil at LFA 111, a Unanimous Decision win at LFA 126, another knockout at LFA 143, and then a third knockout for the promotion at LFA 154, which earned him the LFA middleweight title.
Bekoev (16-3) became the LFA’s tenth middleweight champion at LFA 160 when he fought for the interim title in Kentucky. The interim title opportunity became available when Fernando was busy preparing to headline Week 1 of the seventh season of Dana White’s Contender Series. Bekoev defeated top American prospect Dylan “The Mindless Hulk” Budka in a grueling 5-round, 25-minute battle, which saw Bekoev become the first fighter from Russia to capture LFA gold. Coincidentally, Budka would then step up as last-minute replacement on Dana White’s Contender Series just four weeks after Fernando competed on the show. Only Budka would secure a UFC contract. Now the 27-year-old Russian looks to join his American rival in the UFC by successfully unifying the LFA middleweight title.
The co-main event of LFA 173 will feature a fascinating interim women’s strawweight title fight.
Top undefeated prospect Giovanna “Diamond” Canuto (4-0) was scheduled to challenge the LFA women’s strawweight champion Rose Conceição (7-0) for the title, but Conceição was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injury. Now the five-time IBJJF champion and reigning LFA Fans’ Choice Awards Female Fighter of the Year will fight Olympic Judo bronze medalist Natalia “Kuzya” Kuziutina (4-1) for the interim title. The young Brazilian is a world-class BJJ black belt, who has won all four of her bouts for the LFA in dominant fashion. In fact, the first three came in the first round by three different submissions. Canuto will now look to win her first MMA title against a two-time Olympic judoka.
Kuziutina represented her country of Russia twice in the sport of Judo at the Summer Olympics. The first Olympics that she competed at was in 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The Russian then returned to the Olympics for a second time in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was there where she earned an Olympic bronze medal. Kuziutina also won a silver medal at the World Judo Championships in 2019 and has won five gold medals at the European Judo Championships (four individual and one team). Her title fight with Canuto will now set up a clash of styles that will consist of the most accomplished BJJ player vs. the most accomplished Judo player in the history of Women’s MMA.
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