LFA 238 is back in Brazil this Friday with a banger of a card. They are in BrasÃlia, DF, Brazil, at the Ginásio Nilson Nelson venue for a 14-fight card. No title bouts, but twelve undefeated fighters. Let’s hope LFA actually airs all their fights because all these fights deserve it. Here are the prospects I feel are worth the time to check out.
Welterweight – Gabriel Vinicius (7-0)
I’m still unsure where to rate Gabriel Vinicius. He comes from a WGP kickboxing background, but you wouldn’t know it from watching his MMA career. In fact, his striking is still the biggest question mark in his game. He doesn’t spend much time at kickboxing range, but in close, his Muay Thai is dangerous, using slicing elbows and crushing knees.
Once the fight hits the mat, Vinicius is aggressive. He applies steady top pressure while constantly inflicting damage with ground-and-pound, and he’ll snatch the neck whenever the opportunity presents itself. Technically, he’s still raw, which is why I’m not completely sold on him. His striking defense and cardio are also concerns. He faces Cláudio Narden (9-4), who isn’t much of a step up from the level of competition he’s faced in his last two fights.
Lightweight – Juan Pablo Vieira (9-0)
Vieira returns after more than a year away from the cage, and it’s a shame he has been inactive because he’s one of Brazil’s better lightweight prospects.
At his core, Vieira is a grappler. While his striking has improved significantly, his wrestling is still developing. His timing is excellent, often shooting behind his strikes or slipping under punches to close the distance. Despite not having a traditional wrestling background, he uses his length well to threaten back takes and is dangerous off his back, constantly fighting for wrist control, creating angles with fluid hips, and attacking submissions.
His striking can get wild at times, leaving openings that high-level strikers could eventually exploit. Still, he’s already dominated several quality strikers. His 75-inch reach is a major weapon, allowing him to control range with leg kicks, body kicks, a relentless teep, and sharp counters. He’s comfortable fighting both at range and in the pocket.
Even when it looks like he’s absorbing damage, Vieira slips shots well and fires back in volume. He blends technique, explosiveness, and controlled chaos into a style that’s difficult to deal with.
Middleweight – Felipe Rosa (3-0)
Rosa is still new to MMA, but he’s speed-running his career. If this fight happens, his entire professional career will have taken place this year.
A two-time Muay Thai national champion, Rosa also owns a 39-4 kickboxing record with 24 knockouts. Middleweight is a thin division, and Rosa is someone I’m excited about. He’s chaotic, but mostly in all the right ways. He can get wild, but he’s constantly throwing a variety of weapons from every angle.
Rosa puts together nasty combinations, attacking all three levels with heavy hooks, straight punches, elbows, knees, and kicks. He finished his debut with a liver kick, scored a one-punch knockout in his second fight, and most recently earned a stoppage with a barrage of body shots, elbows, and knees. In each of his last two fights, he’s sent his opponent’s mouthpiece flying.
There’s still plenty for Rosa to prove, but I think he’ll develop into a very good prospect. He faces Rayan Kadosoe, who I don’t believe is on the same level.
Flyweight – Wendrio Chaves (5-0) vs. Thiago Taveira (11-3)
Chaves is an underrated prospect out of Amazonas. At just 20 years old, it’s no surprise I’m not fully sold on him yet. My biggest concern is that eventually he’ll run into someone who can consistently take him down and show another level.
Ironically, Chaves does have a wrestling background, winning bronze and silver at the U20 Brazilian Wrestling Championships, but it hasn’t been a major part of his MMA game. Instead, he prefers to stand and trade. He’s also a beach boxing champion, though I’m not entirely sure how much weight that carries.
On the feet, Chaves is all action. He constantly pressures forward, throws clean, tight punches, and can explode with something dynamic at any moment. He’s a high-energy prospect with plenty of upside, but also plenty of unanswered questions.
If Chaves beats Thiago Taveira, it would skyrocket his career. Personally, I don’t see it happening. While Chaves is the more chaotic fighter, Taveira is the more technical and composed one.
I like how Taveira pressures forward and cuts off the cage. Once he traps opponents, he mixes chopping leg kicks with punches from both sides, plus nasty elbows and knees in close. For me, this is simply too much too soon for Chaves, and I favor Taveira.
Bantamweight – Neto Lopes (5-0)
Lopes is another Fighting Nerds product with a ton of potential. He was the 2025 LFA Rookie of the Year and remains undefeated with a 100% finish rate. He’s coming off back-to-back knockout wins featuring some spectacular spinning attacks.
Lopes is a top-notch kickboxer who blends flashy techniques with traditional fundamentals. He manages range extremely well and can close distance in an instant. One of the more encouraging parts of his game is that he actually owns more finishes on the mat than on the feet. He won his only amateur fight by submission, submitted his professional debut opponent, and followed that with two ground-and-pound stoppages.
He’s not much of a wrestler, but he scrambles well and actively hunts submissions whenever the opportunity is there.
I’ll call out LFA a little here. Neither of his two LFA fights aired, despite both ending in highlight-reel knockouts. Those fights should at least be on YouTube. For such an important promotion, there’s no reason every fight shouldn’t be available. To make matters worse, his fight this weekend is on the prelims. Hopefully, fans can actually watch it now that broadcasting has become more difficult without the UFC Fight Pass deal.
Lopes faces Almir Augusto (3-0), another solid prospect. After watching his tape, though, I think he leaves too many openings for Lopes to exploit.
Flyweight – Ricardo Lemos (4-0)
Before talking about Lemos, I have to say Tapology is lame for flagging his professional debut. It was his first fight, he was only 17 years old, and there was nothing unusual about it.
Lemos comes from a deeply rooted MMA background, having trained in martial arts since he was 12. He’s competed extensively in grappling and is an ADCC Latin American gold medalist.
Honestly, you wouldn’t know that just from watching his tape because he looks extremely comfortable on the feet. That said, his jiu-jitsu is slick, and he’s constantly hunting finishes from every position. He already owns submission wins by calf slicer, guillotine, and anaconda choke.
Lemos is a flyweight prospect I feel very good about heading into the future.
