LAS VEGAS — LFA CEO Ed Soares announced that the promotion will have a new main event when it returns to the Brazilian coastal city of Caraguatatuba this Saturday at LFA 159. This will be the third LFA event to be held on a Saturday, and it will be the 10th LFA event to take place in Brazil after the promotion’s international expansion began in the summer of 2021.
“LFA 159: Bellato vs. Dos Santos” takes place this Saturday, May 27, at the CIDE Casa Branca Sports Complex in Caraguatatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The main event will feature an interim light-heavyweight title fight between top prospects Rodolfo “Trator” Bellato and Acacio “Pequeno” Dos Santos. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET.
“We are excited to bring the interim light-heavyweight championship to the southeast coast of Brazil at LFA 159,” stated Soares. “The new main event will crown an interim 205-pound champion, when top prospects Rodolfo Bellato and Acacio Dos Santos fight for the interim light heavyweight title. The winner will then get a chance to unify the title against current champion Bruno Lopes later this year. The previously announced main event between women’s strawweight champion Julia Polastri and undefeated challenger Rose Conceicao has been canceled after Polastri withdrew from the bout, which was scheduled for this Saturday. We hope to see them both back in action soon.”
Bellato (9-2) and Dos Santos (15-5) vie to become the LFA’s seventh light heavyweight champion. This interim opportunity became available to both men as the promotion awaits the return of its undefeated sitting champion “Brunao” Lopes, who won the title last September in the main event of LFA 143. The champion is expected to fight the winner of Bellato vs. Dos Santos in a title unification bout later this year.
Bellato and Dos Santos have taken similar paths over the past 12 months. After picking up wins early in 2022, both men were invited to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series last summer. Now they are looking to get back on the UFC boss’ radar. That began earlier this year with both prospects earning dominant TKO wins. Now it continues as both men have their sights set on capturing LFA gold in the main event of LFA 159.
The LFA 159 lineup includes:
- Rodolfo Bellato vs. Acacio Dos Santos – for interim light heavyweight title
- Anderson Ferreira vs. Junior Luiz
- Geraldo Neto vs. Argemiro Delmandes
- Lucas Rocha vs. Matheus Da Silva
- Vinicius Pires vs. Kaua Fernandes
- Hugo Cunha vs. Fernando Batista
