LAS VEGAS – LFA CEO Ed Soares announced recently that the promotion will return to the “Valley of the Sun” in May with a lightweight title fight at LFA 158. This will be the LFA’s second visit to the city of Chandler, Arizona. The LFA 158 headliner will crown the promotion’s seventh 155-pound champion in what will be the LFA’s 12th trip to the Grand Canyon State.
“LFA 158: Lebosnoyani vs. Jones” takes place Friday, May 19 at the Gila River Resorts & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona, which is a suburb of Phoenix. The main event will feature a lightweight title fight between Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jean-Paul “Mufasa” Lebosnoyani and three-time All-American wrestler JaCobi “Big Toe” Jones. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC Fight Pass at 10 p.m. ET.
Tickets for “LFA 158: Lebosnoyani vs. Jones” are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.com.
“We are excited to bring the lightweight championship to Arizona at LFA 158,” stated Soares. “Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani and JaCobi Jones are young fighters that both made their professional debut in our octagon and have since developed into the top two lightweight prospects in the world. The timing for them to meet for the belt is now perfect with our former champion Aaron McKenzie vacating the title to compete on the upcoming season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ The winner will become the seventh man to be crowned LFA lightweight champion.”
Lebosnoyani (5-1) was born into jiu-jitsu royalty as his father is Nono Lebosnoyani. Nono is a black belt in jiu-jitsu and hapkido. In fact, he learned jiu-jitsu from Helio Gracie and then coached Helio’s son, UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, during his legendary career. Nono also began teaching Jean-Paul jiu-jitsu by the time he was 3-years-old and Jean-Paul began competing himself at age 5. The younger Lebosnoyani would win age-group titles for IBJJF, NAGA, and the Gracie Nationals. In high school, he would compete four years on the successful Mira Costa High wrestling team in Manhattan Beach, California. That would make his transition to MMA the next logical progression in his martial arts journey and a year later he made his professional debut at LFA 54. He won that bout with UFC star Brian Ortega in his corner and has never looked back. Now he looks to add an LFA world title to his extensive trophy case.
Jones (5-1) grew up in Nebraska, halfway across the country from Lebosnoyani, but their paths do share several similarities. The man known as “Big Toe” also succeeded in sports at an early age. Growing up in the Midwest, Jones was drawn to and excelled at both wrestling and football. During his senior year, he went 46-5 and became the 170-pound class A Nebraska state champion for the state champion Omaha North High School wrestling team in Omaha, Nebraska. Jones was also a member of his high school’s state championship football team. Upon graduation, he moved to Colorado to wrestle collegiately at CSU Pueblo. Jones had a fantastic wrestling career for the ThunderWolves as he became a three-time All-American, four-time RMAC champion, and four-time All-RMAC First Team. Now after competing for the LFA in his first six professional MMA bouts, he is eager to capture his first world title at LFA 158.
The LFA 158 lineup includes:
- Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani vs. JaCobi Jones – for vacant lightweight title
- Kevin Natividad vs. Matheus Silva
- Ray Waters vs. Tyler Veal
- An Tuan Ho vs. Edwin De Los Santos
- Humberto Duarte vs. Braden Pagaoa
- Alex Martinez vs. Tyler Jones
