LAS VEGAS — LFA CEO Ed Soares recently announced that the promotion will make its second trip to Indiana in February. LFA 153 will feature a featherweight showdown between two of the division’s most exciting prospects when the promotion heads to the northwestern part of the state. RFA hosted one event in the “Hoosier State” before the merger of RFA and Legacy FC that created LFA.
“LFA 153: Mariscal vs. Faria” takes place Friday, February 17 at The Horseshoe Casino Hammond in Hammond, Indiana, which is located in the Chicago metro area. The main event will feature a featherweight showdown between hometown hero Jose “Chepe” Mariscal and Brazilian dynamo Guilherme Faria. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. ET.
Tickets for “LFA 153: Mariscal vs. Faria” are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
“We are excited to bring the LFA back to Chicagoland in February,” stated Soares. “‘Chepe’ Mariscal has been a star for our promotion since making his debut for us at LFA 57. This will be his fourth fight for the LFA, and he has always been in the main event or co-main event, but now he gets a chance to compete in front of his home fans in the Chicago area LFA 153. He will face Brazilian standout Guilherme Faria, who is one of the most dynamic knockout artists in the division.”
Mariscal (12-6) is a Chicago native that has headlined two LFA events and co-headlined a third. However, this will be the first time he has fought for the promotion in his hometown area. Pegged for greatness before ever competing in professional MMA, Mariscal began competing in amateur MMA at 20 years old. Now at age 30, he has compiled an impressive combat sports resume: IMMAF world champion, IMMAF national champion, 18-1 amateur MMA record with 17 finishes, two-time regional MMA champion as a professional fighter, nine-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion, three-time kickboxing champion, NJCAA national qualifier in wrestling, and judo black belt. These achievements led Mariscal to the defining moment in his career at LFA 57, when he became the first man to defeat the highly touted Youssef Zalal. The proud Mexican-American is now eager to win another LFA headliner in Chicagoland at LFA 153.
Faria (18-9) is one of the most exciting knockout artists in the division. The Brazilian dynamo grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which is one of the world’s biggest hotbeds for breeding MMA talent. The 31-year-old is a co-founder of Academia Faria Fighters in Limeira, Brazil and also trains stateside at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California, where he is able to round out his skillset with some of the best grapplers in the world. The muay Thai specialist does prefer to keep his fights standing, however, as more than half of his victories have come by way of knockout or technical knockout. The most recent knockout came in his last fight at LFA 125, where the Brazilian moved up two weight classes to compete on one week’s notice against Dana White’s Contender Series alum Zach Zane. Faria stopped the talented Hawaiian with leg kicks and punches in the second round and is now eager to headline his first LFA event.
The LFA 153 lineup currently includes:
- Jose ‘Chepe’ Mariscal vs. Guilherme Faria
- Askar Askar vs. Matheus Silva
- Bahromjon Mashrapov vs. Urban Logan
- Josh Streacker vs. Ahmad Suhail Hassanzada
- Edwin Cooper vs. Ilyor Bakhtiyar Uulu
- Rachel Martinez vs. Alandria Brown
- Justin Lovrich vs. Christian Turner
- Tyler Veal vs. Omoyele Gonzalez
- Griffin Parriott vs. Mohammed Maali
