LAS VEGAS – LFA CEO Ed Soares announced today that the promotion will begin its Texas Tour in July. The tour will allow the promotion to return to the state of its inception with three action-packed events across thee regions starting at the end of July and ending the first week of October. The first stop will take place in Belton (Central Texas) at LFA 163. The promotion will then head west to El Paso (Upper Rio Grande) in August, which will be its first visit to the Borderplex that includes an international border with Mexico. The tour will then conclude in the birthplace of LFA by returning to Dallas (Metroplex) in October.
LFA 163 will feature the featherweight championship at the top of the card. The winner will become the seventh 145-pound champion in LFA history. This will be the sixth LFA event to take place in the Centroplex of Texas. It will also be the 23rd time that the LFA has visited “The Lone Star State.” Once the Texas Tour has concluded in October, the promotion will have visited the state 25 times, making it the LFA’s most frequented destination.
“LFA 163: Johns vs. Garcia” takes place Friday, July 21 at the Bell County Expo Center in Belton, Texas. The main event will feature a featherweight title fight between top prospects Elijah “Baby” Johns and Javier “El Mariachi” Garcia. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET.
Tickets for “LFA 163: Johns vs. Garcia” are on sale now at BellCountyExpo.com.
“We are excited to bring the featherweight championship to the Centroplex of Texas at LFA 163,” stated Soares. “Elijah Johns has been a part of the LFA since our first event, and he now looks to join his brother Miles as an LFA champion. Javier Garcia has also enjoyed a lot of success in our cage and now looks to make good on his second shot at an LFA title. This will give our loyal Texas fight fans an incredible championship headliner deep in the heart of Texas.”
Johns (9-2) is the younger brother of former LFA bantamweight champion and current UFC star Miles Johns. The 27-year-old prospect followed his brother from their native Kansas to Dallas, Texas where the two developed into world-class prospects at Fortis MMA. The younger Johns brother, affectionately known as “Baby Johns,” will be fighting for his first world title in the promotion that he grew up in. That journey began all the way back at LFA 1, where he made his amateur MMA debut, and it now culminates with him fighting for the title in what will be a record-tying 10th professional fight for the LFA.
Johns earned the title shot by dominating U-23 World Wrestling Championships gold medalist Masuto Kawana at LFA 138. He now looks to capture gold of his own, that will allow him to continue the Johns brothers’ winning ways and championship legacy at LFA 163.
Garcia (10-5) returns to the LFA octagon after gaining popularity among the LFA faithful for developing a flair for the dramatic with his all-action style and fight-ending sequences. The 30-year-old CSW product made his LFA debut at LFA 102 against lauded featherweight prospect A.J. Cunningham. The proud Mexican fighter known as “El Mariachi” announced his arrival by stealing Cunningham’s thunder with a dominant unanimous decision win. Then just four weeks later, he doubled down with a dramatic triangle choke submission win over Bellator veteran Timothy Teves in the final seconds of their bout at LFA 104. The win earned him his first title shot, which ended in a close decision win for Bruno Souza at LFA 114, but Garcia would not be deterred. He has since picked up a pair of LFA victories, which includes becoming the only man to submit Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Leandro Gomes.
LFA 163 currently includes::
- Elijah Johns vs. Javier Garcia – for vacant featherweight title
- Kevin Fernandez vs. Javier Cepeda
