Las Vegas, Nevada – The CEO of LFA, Ed Soares, announced today that the promotion will return to the southern Dakota in April together with the headliner of the Championships in LFA 207. In the main event the featherlight title of the world champion will be on the line. It will be the nineteenth event of LFA, which will take place in the state. RFA organized four events in Mount Rushmore State before the connection of RFA and Legacy FC, which created LFA.
LFA 207: Lewis vs. Miranda, presented byMonster EnergyIt takes place on Friday, April 18 at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, southern Dakota. The main event will take place a slight fight for the title of world champion, when the champion Richie “Savage” Lewis defends his title against the highest pretender Richie “El Machete” Miranda. The entire main card will be available all over the world UFC Fight Pass® at 21:00 et / 6 pm
“We are glad that we can bring a featherlight world championship to southern Dakota in LFA 207,” said Soares. “In the main event, the first defense of the LFA LFA Richie Lewis champion will appear in the main event. He will face the best contender and outstanding LFA Richie Miranda. Both men won their debut LFA in Sioux Falls, and now they will finally face the world title on the line. Sioux Falls, southern Dakota is one of our most visited places and it is an ideal headliner that will add to our 11-year history in Sanford Pentagon. “
Tickets for LFA 207: Lewis vs. Miranda can be bought through Ticketmaster.com.
He is one of the most -talked about MMA perspectives for a reason. Born and raised in Novel Jersey, a graduate of Rutgers University followed in the footsteps of the UFC master who was from his hometown in “Garden State”. It would be the legendary Frankie Edgar. Two men are at the age of 13, but they are both graduates of Toms River High School East. Of course, Lewis drew inspiration from UFC Hall of Famer on mats, and now in a cage, and the results were undeniable. At Junior College he was Njcaa All-American in Iowa Central twice. Then in Rutgers Lewis became the automatic qualifier of NCAA Division and after gaining a general sense of 27-7 and double record 16-1 in his first season with the program. However, he did this after studying at the international wrestling scene, which really changed her head. In November 2017, Lewis became the first American to win the U23 world medal after winning the gold medal at 70 kg. Currently, a man known as “Savage” is fully immersed in MMA, where he is currently undefeated and dethroned Kegan Gennrich to capture
Miranda (10-1) is a man who grew up in the LFA promotion, and his monuments set to LFA Lightweight World for three years. Like Lewis, Miranda has deep roots in wrestling. South California was a distinctive wrestler at the High School segerstrome in Santa Ana, California. At Junior College, he competed at NJCAA level in Santa Ana College (SAC) and was in the first fourth 4 in California Cc State Wrestling Championships. This provided him with the possibility of competing at the NCAA Division II level at the University of Nebraska in Kearney (UNK), which is the same wrestling program that produced great MMA MMA champions Kamar Usman and Raufeon Stots. Miranda now follows in the footsteps of MMA with an ultra aggressive fight style, which brought him 10 wins in his career (7 in LFA) and a avid base of fans, wherever he competes. This boisterous “Miranda Mafia” will only be strengthened when he fights for a featherlight LFA title before the same crowd in which he won his debut LFA. “El Machete” won a well-deserved title after passing 3-0 and nominated for “Male Fighter of the Year” in 2024.
Currently announced combat card (the main card will be available all over the world UFC Fight Pass®):
Dana White sees the sky as the limit for combat sports prodigy Bella Mir.
This season of Dana White's Contender Series features Mir – the daughter of UFC legend Frank Mir – vying for a UFC contract when she fights Alex Apodaca on Aug. 25. Mir already has a working relationship with the UFC, having signed on to be its first NIL ambassador in 2023 during her freshman year competing as a wrestler at the University of Iowa.
Should she impress against Apodaca, it's possible the 23-year-old Mir could be signed to the UFC in 2026 and continue following in her father's footsteps.
“I'm very excited about Bella,†White said speaking to the media after Tuesday's DWCS show in Las Vegas. “I've been very involved in her life the last four years, so have fun.â€
Frank was a prodigy in his own right, using his lethal submission skills run through the heavyweight division and capture a UFC title at the age of 25. A motorcycle accident later forced him to vacate the belt before he had a chance to defend it, but he remained a world title contender for a decade and captured an interim belt in 2008.
Bella has already begun filling her own trophy case, upsetting Reese Larramendy in the finals of the NCAA wrestling championships this past March to become a Division I wrestling champion at 145 pounds. That could be the first title of many for Mir, based on conversations she's had with White.
“The Olympics. The UFC championship. Zuffa Boxing. And UFC BJJ,†White said. “She wants a title in all of those organizations. … We've talked about it. She presented that to me and I've been talking about her career with her for four years.
“I don't want to talk too much about personal stuff, but I'm the one that really pushed her to go to college and get a college education because she was ready to start fighting right out of high school.â€
A win on Aug. 25 doesn't guarantee Mir will be signed, and even if she gets a contract it could be a developmental deal as opposed to an immediate call-up to the big show given her age and inexperience in MMA (so far, Mir is 4-0 as a pro fighter competing sporadically since 2022). Regardless, White thinks Mir is so laser-focused that success is all but guaranteed.
“That was the goal, too, in college, not just for her to get an education, but to break some college records,†White said. “This girl would go to school and she was wrestling, and then she'd go home on vacation, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and shit, and she would enter these jiu-jitsu competitions and win them while she was only wrestling, not only doing jiu-jitsu. So she's special.â€
Only one victor didn't impress Dana
White and the
Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmakers on Week 1 of
Dana White's Contender Series 2026.
Joseph Kropschot, Tom Pagliarulo, Bilal Hasan and Anthony Wint
earn UFC contracts at DWCS 2026 Week 1
Joseph
Kropschot (9-3) opened the action in a middleweight outing
against Jonathan
Kunneman (10-1). Kropschot dislocated Kunneman's elbow with an
armbar in the final seconds of the fight. He earned a unanimous
decision win after his opponent refused to tap. Kropschot's intent
to finish was enough for White to give him a UFC contract.
“When he got that armbar, I said, ‘I'm gonna give him a shot.' 31
years old, he went for the finish. I'm always looking for guys to
finish,†White said. “That fight should have been finished… Joseph,
you went for it and you swayed me and changed my mind.
Congratulations.â€
Tom
Pagliarulo (11-2) was the second fighter to earn a contract on
Week 1. The featherweight prospect finished Ananias
Mulumba (10-4) with vicious ground-and-pound in the final
seconds of the fight.
“Thomas, you were in a dog fight; turned it on in the third round,
and finished a really tough kid,†White said. “Congratulations,
you're in.â€
Former
Cage Fury Fighting Championships flyweight champion Bilal Hasan
(9-0) was a -5000 favorite going into his matchup against Mridul
Saikia (9-2). Hassan absolutely justified the odds by
dispatching Saikia in 45 seconds to earn his UFC contract. White
can't wait for Hasan's first UFC bout.
“This is an absolute no-brainer. Even with the ton of hype,
absolutely lived up to it,†the UFC CEO said. “When you're the
biggest favorite in the history of the Contender Series, 10 years.
That's how you treat somebody, and you absolutely did. I'm excited
to see your future. I'm really pumped for your first fight in the
UFC.â€
Abe
Alsaghir (9-0) earned a split decision win in a lightweight
tilt against Fabrizio
Escarrega (9-2). While both fighters went toe-to-toe, White
believes neither fighter stood out to earn a contract. The UFC head
honcho also disagreed with the judges' scorecards on this one.
“I actually thought this was a dog fight between two tough guys
with great records,†White recalled. “And the third round was where
I was looking to see who was going to be my guy, and it never
happened. And I don't agree with the judges. I don't think you won
that fight. I think the judges absolutely blew that decision. And I
just didn't see anything that I was looking for.â€
Anthony
Wint (7-0) earned the final contract of the night with a
first-round stoppage win over Matthew
Adams (6-3). The heavyweight powerhouse took hardly over 30
seconds to reverse a takedown and rain brutal ground-and-pound to
secure the stoppage.
“Anthony, you're a f*cking tank, my friend… Holy sh*t!†White said.
“I didn't get to see much, but what I got to see was pretty nasty.
And I have a long history with your coach, who has nothing but good
things to say about you. Welcome to the UFC.â€
AN ABSOLUTE TANK 🫡
Anthony
Wint secures his spot in the heavyweight division after a
knockout on #DWCS!
[ LIVE on @ParamountPlus
] pic.twitter.com/xVCHyWrsOK
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount)
August 12, 2026
Tom
Pagliarulo's career aspirations are finally coming to
fruition.
Pagliarulo (11-2) took on Ananias
Mulumba in a featherweight clash on Week 1 of
Dana White's Contender Series 2026. “The Phenom†left it all in
the cage, finishing Mulumba with ground-and-pound in the final
seconds of the fight, earning an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract for his efforts.
‘Most afraid I've ever been': Tom Pagliarulo details how his
team helped him stay focused ahead of DWCS Week 1
Pagliarulo admits that he was very nervous throughout fight week.
However, his coaches and teammate, UFC bantamweight Cory
Sandhagen, helped him stay dialed in. The 29-year-old is glad
to have finally made it to the biggest stage in MMA, even if it
came a little later than he expected.
“This is the most afraid I've ever been in my life, all week,â€
Pagliarulo said in his post-fight interview. “My coaches and Cory
Sandhagen back home kept me locked in. Just reminded me to go be
me, and that will always be enough. I'm like a cockroach; you got
to kill me if you want to put me away… I was never the most
talented or naturally gifted kid. Growing up, doing all these
sports, I fell short of all my goals. I was never the starter in
all of those team sports. But I was always the hardest worker in
the room; I kept showing up. My coaches back home told me, ‘You've
always had that fire.'â€
UFC CEO Dana
White later commended Pagliarulo's performance before awarding
him a contract.
“Thomas, you were in a dog fight, turned it on in the third round,
and finished a really tough kid,†White said. “Congratulations,
you're in.â€
GNP gets the job done 💪
Tom
Pagliarulo earns the first finish of #DWCS
S10!
[ LIVE on @ParamountPlus
] pic.twitter.com/5AkTat5vp4
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount)
August 12, 2026
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