LAS VEGAS – LFA CEO Ed Soares announced earlier this month that the promotion will make its debut in Northern California in August. LFA 165 will feature an explosive middleweight showdown between two of the division’s top stars when the promotion returns to the Golden State. This will be the sixteenth LFA event to take place in the state.
“LFA 165: Compton vs. Valente” takes place Friday, August 18 at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California. The main event will feature a middleweight showdown between hometown hero Daniel “Santo” Compton and Brazilian powerhouse Renato “Índio” Valente. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC Fight Pass at 10 p.m. ET.
“Daniel Compton and Renato Valente are two of the most exciting middleweight prospects in the sport and will finally get to face each other in the main event of LFA 165,” stated Soares. “They were originally scheduled to meet in the co-main event of LFA 161 earlier this month, so the anticipation will be at an all-time high. This gives our fight fans in the Bay Area the perfect headliner for our first event in Northern California.”
Tickets for “LFA 165: Compton vs. Valente” are available now through Ticketmaster.com.
Compton (8-2) is one of the biggest prospects to emerge from the “Surf City” of Santa Cruz in years. “Santo” is currently riding a five-fight win streak and returns to the LFA after announcing his arrival in the LFA in dramatic fashion last summer by becoming the first man to defeat top Samoan prospect Billy Elekana. Compton would then go on to win a regional title in Las Vegas before signing on to fight for the LFA again this past spring. His second fight was set to take place against Valente at LFA 161 in the same venue where he upset Elekana. However, he was forced to withdraw a week before the fight with an injury. Now as fate would have it, the LFA is making its debut in his hometown, and he will get to meet Valente in the main event.
Valente (9-6) is the next exciting LFA middleweight prospect to hail from Brazil by following in the footsteps of LFA greats Alex “Poatan” Pereira and Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues. Pereira went on to become UFC middleweight champion, while Rodrigues is the former LFA middleweight champion that also competes in the UFC. Valente has dreams of joining his countrymen in the UFC and has the perfect opportunity to prove that he belongs in his sixth appearance for the LFA in what will also be his third main event for the promotion. “Índio” has proven how dangerous he can be by knocking out former LFA title challenger Jared Revel at LFA 144. He is also the only man to defeat LFA star and Dana White’s Contender Series alum Chibwikem Onyenegecha.
