LAS VEGAS – LFA CEO Ed Soares announced a dozen pro fights will take place at LFA 157, when the promotion returns to Minnesota later this month. The main event of LFA 157 will feature the women’s bantamweight championship. The headliner will crown the second women’s bantamweight champion in LFA history. The first LFA title fight in this division saw both participants, Sarah Alpar and Joselyne Edwards, go on to sign with the UFC. LFA 157 will be the 18th LFA event to take place in the state.
LFA 157 takes place Friday, April 21 at the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota. The main event will feature a women’s bantamweight title fight when top Canadian prospect Melissa “Scare” Croden faces top Portuguese prospect Jacqueline Cavalcanti. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET.
“We are bringing a stacked fight card to Minnesota at LFA 157,” stated Soares. “The event at Mystic Lake will feature a dozen pro fights. That includes four bouts in the women’s divisions, which includes Canada’s Melissa Croden facing Portugal’s Jacqueline Cavalcanti for the vacant women’s bantamweight title in the main event. The two women that previously fought for this title went on to sign with the UFC, so the stakes are high and the world will be watching on April 21.”
Tickets for “LFA 157: Croden vs. Cavalcanti” are available for purchase now through Ticketmaster.com.
Croden (4-1) has long been considered the next-big-thing when it comes to the women’s bantamweight division in Canada. This is a country that has produced Strikeforce title challenger Sarah Kaufman and UFC title challenger Alexis Davis, who both challenged Ronda Rousey during her legendary MMA career. Since that time, Canada has been searching for its next top contender in the division and many MMA pundits have pegged Croden to be just that.
Hailing from the Rocky Mountains of Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Croden trains out of Ravenhouse MMA in Crowsnest and Champion’s Creed MMA in Calgary. She has also spent time training stateside with UFC fighter and LFA great Hailey Cowan. “Scare” Croden went undefeated with a 5-0 record as an amateur before enjoying similar success as a pro. That success culminated in winning a regional crown in Canada this past August, when she defeated Swedish standout Cornelia Holm via TKO. Croden now hopes to join Lupita Godinez and Jamey-Lyn Horth as the third fighter from Canada to win LFA gold.
Cavalcanti (4-1) carries similar hopes of a nation as she is currently the top women’s MMA prospect from Portugal. Cavalcanti was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but moved to Portugal with her family when she was 11-years-old. The Brazilian-Portuguese fighter has called Almada, Portugal home ever since. The city is located on the southern margin of the Tagus River on the opposite side of the river from the nation’s capital city of Lisbon.
It is there where she trains at Reborn Fight Team and has honed her craft to quickly become one of Europe’s most promising prospects. In fact, her presence has already been felt around the world in her first five fights. That is because each of those fights has taken place in a different country. Those countries include Portugal, France, the United States, United Arab Emirates and Spain. Cavalcanti’s crowning moment also came in her most recent fight, when she traveled to her Iberian neighbor to the east and captured a regional title in Spain. She now hopes to become the first LFA champion from Portugal.
The LFA 157 lineup currently includes:
MAIN CARD
- Melissa Croden vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti – for vacant women’s bantamweight title
- Sean McPadden vs. Kibedy Gordon
- Bobby Lee vs. Arthur Estrazulas
- Kegan Gennrich vs. Richie Miranda
- Alden Coria vs. Jesse Martinelli
- Marnic Mann vs. Amber Brown
- Quang Le vs. Ira Lukowsky
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Nejra Repp vs. Sarah Click
- Rachael Lippert vs. Mariana Piccolo
- Jackson McVey vs. Tom Krenzel
- Austin Judge vs. Cliff Wright
- Santos Verdinez vs. Pierre Ba
