LFA 133 Highlights

Written By TFN Reporter: Garey Symington ig: @gare57

What an incredible night at LFA 133 in the birthplace of the UFC – Denver, Colorado. Denver has always had a great fight culture, and the passion this region has for the game was on full display at Magness Arena. It was fun to see local gym, Factory X, well represented as a welterweight-heavy card was capped off by an electric 5 round fight between hometown hero, Michael Stack, and Brazil’s José Delano. This was a night full of fanfare, finishes and ferocious competition.

Elevation Fight Team’s Ben “Vanillla Thunder” Tynan (-1000 ML)stepped in the cage against Trevor “Unknown Element” Wallace (+600) with high expectations – both from his previous performances, and as the first fight on the main card following some highly entertaining prelim and amateur bouts. Everyone loves a Heavyweight fight, but looking at Tynan, you get the sense he may be able to drop to Light Heavyweight if he really tried. Weighing in at 238 lbs (234 in previous fight) puts him right in the middle of the Heavyweight division, but it didn’t matter as he absolutely dominated the similarly sized Wallace in the first round. It only took 1:33 for Tynan to put his wrestling on display, secure the takedown, and finish his opponent with an arm triangle. Fitting for the tat on his chest!

Next up was another complete demolition, this time in the lightweight division. Jacobi “Big Toe” Jones (-220) absolutely ran through Riley Wiseman (+180),earning a corner stoppage due to a cut at 2:09 in the first round. Coming into this, I knew Jones had great wrestling and ground and pound, but that could get him into some trouble against Wiseman who’s discipline of choice is jiu jitsu. This didn’t prove to be a problem as Jones forced his will upon Riley, sliced him up, and moved to 4-1 after the defeated corner threw in the towel.

This next fight pissed me off. Ryan Charlebois (-350) stepped in against Jeremiah Curtright (+280) in a welterweight bout that had fight of the night potential. Charlebois was a fairly substantial betting favorite, but the one punch power of Curtright should have made this one quite interesting. Charlebois is a little faster, more technical striker and had a slight grappling advantage, and understanding Curtright likes to start fast, he matched that pace and dominated the first 3:15 of the first round. Then, in the blink of an eye, a strike to the back of the head of Curtright halts the fight, and after some deliberation, the ref gives him the win by DQ. Hate to see a fight (and my parlay) end like this – I’d love to see them run this one back.

Another welterweight bout followed, this one between Trey “The Truth” Waters (+400) and Benjamin “Mr. Alaska” Bennett. What an upset! Waters remained undefeated with a late KO with a highlight reel knee to the head of Bennett, improving to 6-0. I’d say this was the most brutal finish of the night, and the crowd went nuts. People were doubting Waters as he hadn’t fought the best competition coming into this fight, but he got it done late to keep the “and 0” and could be an athlete to watch in this division.

Now onto the Co-main event of the evening. The most international fight on the card featured Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Haris “The Bosnian Silverback” Talundžić (-300) facing Bahatebole “Lion King” Batebolati (+240) from China. This was a fun one to watch, and while Haris wound up notching a unanimous decision victory, the fight looked a lot closer than the betting odds may have suggested. Batebolati brought his toughness and experience from training alongside fellow countryman Li Jingliang at China Top Team and wasn’t going to let the more polished Talundžić take him out without a fight. Unfortunately for him, Talundžić has an impressive camp of his own at Factory X, training alongside the UFC’s Dustin Jacoby, Brandon Royval and Anthony Smith. In the end, the Bosnian Silverback was able to score more and control the fight, but this could be another one to run back.

Finally, the lights dim, the crowd gets on its feet, and the main event arrives in the form of a featherweight title bout between Denver’s Michael Stack (+155) and Brazil’s José Delano (-190). I loved everything about Delano’s performance, aside from the fact that he missed weight for the second title bout in a row! What the hell! Even with all the talent in the world, Uncle Dana looks very closely at who he can depend on to make weight when offering UFC contracts, and back-to-back title bout misses is a tough look for the Brazilian. It also meant he was ineligible, again, to take home the belt with a victory. I applaud the toughness of Michael Stack, especially in front of his home crowd, but this was a very one-sided contest with the result coming by way of a 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 unanimous decision victory for Delano. Prior to this fight, Stack’s only loss came to Kai “The Fighting Hawaiian” Kamaka, who had a 4-fight stint in the UFC prior to moving back to Bellator, but Delano was unphased as his quicker, sharper striking was on display throughout his march to a unanimous decision victory.

All in all, incredible night. I continue to be impressed with the LFA, the showmanship of their events, the talent they bring in, and the passion that comes out in these fights. Whether these fighters are doing it for the love of the game, or vying for a UFC contract, there’s never a dull moment at an LFA fight night. I encourage you to catch one as they move around the country, and across the globe!