Rejoice! LFA, the premier American regional promotion, is back with yet another entree for us to dig into. While the top of the card may not be especially flashy, there’s still plenty of meat on the bone when it comes to this fight card. LFA 242 goes down Friday night in Prior Lake, Minnesota. MMA nerds, here are the prospects you’re going to want to check out!
Steve Collins (7-0)
I am a fan of Steve Collins. The 25-year-old lightweight was 4-2 as an amateur, and remains unbeaten as a pro. One of the better unsigned prospects in the United States, Collins is a very well-rounded fighter for his age and experience level. “Scuba” Steve has only been fighting and training for a little over 5 years but has a lot of tools working for him.
He has shown great pace, pressure, and durability. He has shown great ability to make his fights happen mainly on his terms, using his boxing against grapplers and grappling when he may have a striking disadvantage. Collins is good at putting together combinations on the feet, with his punches coming in bunches. His head movement and ability to roll away from punches have gotten better each fight as well. His movement and striking game actually remind me a lot of Chris Curtis. With that said, he doesn’t have quite the same power. His footwork could use a bit of work, and he has a bad tendency to dip his head. Additionally, he could work more kicks into his game.
As a grappler, Collins is very solid, although he doesn’t possess a submission game. His short and powerful frame makes him difficult to take down. Scuba is athletic, showing good explosiveness in the grappling game, putting his opponents down with authority. He even has a slam KO that came when he was defending an armbar. His top control could use a little work, but he remains relentless with the ground-and-pound regardless.
While his size for the division isn’t very good, I have been impressed with his fight IQ and the lack of any big holes in his game. I expect him to win this Friday, and if he can finish Kevin Carrier, he will likely find himself close to scratching my top 30 prospects.
Elias Rodriguez (4-0)
To fight Elias Rodriguez is to be in constant danger. Besides his very first amateur fight, the longest any of his pro or amateur fights have gone has been the second round. He has won all of those fights. The Colorado featherweight is a longtime training partner of Cory Sandhagen, and looks to be just as deadly. Training at elevation as he does likely means he has a good gas tank, but he’s never fought long enough to display it.
The proven finisher throws his knees fantastically in the clinch. He doesn’t overthrow, using his tremendous precision with his punches to find the finish. He manages range well, then overwhelms his opponent when he gets in close. “El Bachatero” is constantly moving and light on his feet. The knockout ability is legitimate, but so is his Jiu Jitsu. His grappling game is similar to Sandhagen’s, where the wrestling isn’t dominant, but he is very comfortable and fast on the ground. He hasn’t had to display much of a grappling defense, so it will be interesting to see how that holds up when it is finally tested.
I come away incredibly impressed with Elias. What he has shown has been elite, but he is largely untested against any other legitimate prospects, although submitting Carlos Rivera is aging pretty well. This next matchup for him seems tailor-made for Rodriguez to add another highlight, but after that I would like to see a big step up in competition so he can display some grit and resilience. He is my second favorite prospect on this card, and I think his ceiling could still end up being higher than Collins.
Noah Gasho (4-0)
Gasho, one of 3 fighters on the card training out of The Academy MN, is an unbeaten 24-year-old fighting at 150lbs. This will be his 4th fight under the LFA banner. The lanky Minnesotan is definitely one of the more interesting fighters I have taped in a while, and he’s getting a layup here this Friday against Adryen Spinks (1-1).
Gasho is a springy, fast fighter who relies on many quick, explosive movements and superior athleticism. He is very adept in grappling. He is difficult to take down and even more difficult to keep down. Offensively, he can’t overpower someone to the ground, but has a good array of trips and hip tosses. His Jiu-Jitsu has only produced one finish, but it’s pretty slick and gives opponents something to worry about.
Where it gets interesting is on the feet. There are moments in his fights where the volume just isn’t there, and he does just a little too much standing and staring. When he does throw, he’s all knees and elbows. It makes a lot of sense for his sharp build, and has been very effective. The knees hit hard at the body and chin. The elbows are relentless and come from all angles. There are times when he forgets the basics because he is too elbow obsessed. When he does throw hands, they’re very fast. His jab is good, and I wish he’d use it more. He keeps his hands high and does a very good job deflecting most strikes.
Gasho will be 5-0 come the end of Friday, I have no doubt. In his last fight, he beat a much better fighter, and this is a step down. I would love to see his unorthodox style matched up against another fun striking prospect, as I have no clue how it would hold up. He is definitely a guy to watch going forward.
Allen Holloway (3-0)
Allen Holloway is matched up in perhaps the most interesting fight on paper for the entire card. Wilson vs. Holloway pits two unbeaten lightweights against each other. Both have extensive amateur experience as well, with Holloway notably being 9-0 across pro and ammy. I would talk about Wilson, but he has the awful distinction of having little to no film of his fights, although he is 2-0 with 2 submissions.
Holloway, though, has the slightly better pedigree and is much more intriguing on account of being a 6’2 lightweight. His length allows him to punish opponents on the feet with good front kicks and a rangey jab. He mixes in a high kick well, and it will connect if he can disguise it a little better. His long limbs have allowed him to wrap up 3 different chokes in his 3 pro fights, as well as 3 triangles as an amateur. While he is a solid grappler on the feet, I do find that he is too comfortable off his back and doesn’t do well to create scrambles. The triangle is a great tool to have, but he can’t fall in love with it. It will be harder to apply as the level of his opponents goes up and up.
This fight, against a fellow BJJ-heavy fighter, will be a great test for Holloway. I want to see him use his big height advantage to punish Wilson on the feet. Holloway, at just 24, only needs to become a little more comfortable on the feet to be a huge threat going forward. He has everything you need to make a big splash on the regional scene.
Kelton Sneve (6-1)
Yet another lightweight. One of the deepest divisions in the sport gets even deeper. Kelton Sneve, a 26-year-old Canadian out of Ontario, is at one of the better gyms in the country. He primarily fights out of Team Alpha Male under Uriah Faber, a team with a track record of turning good fighters into great ones. The only loss on Sneve’s record comes to Steve Collins via split decision. Fighting guys at the level of Collins and coming away with a split decision loss is the kind of fight that makes your career better for the experience.
Sneve has finished all his low-level opponents. But when the level of opposition ramps up, Sneve hasn’t been nearly as dangerous. He is light on his feet and utilizes leg kicks well. He is patient and poised on the feet, but lacks head movement. His strikes land at all three levels: legs, body, and head. I am a fan of how he punishes the midsection; it’s smart given his lack of big power. He can overwhelm and melt opponents with his output instead of his power.
He rarely initiates grappling but is more than competent. Even if someone gets him to the ground, he’s very good at creating scrambles. When he ends up in top position, he unloads with hammerfists and elbows. His Jiu-Jitsu isn’t especially quick, but it’s good enough to take advantage of the right position. His ability to hover and maintain top position through scrambles is high level for a regional fighter.
The lack of big finishing power might hold Sneve back from getting the call-up. Yet, he is at the level where he is too good for most regional fighters. He should be a heavy favorite this Friday, and for the sake of his career progression, he needs to be going all out for the finish.
Quick Hitters:
Tyree Overton (1-0)
Tyree Overton may only be 1-0, but he deserves a brief mention here. He was a proven finisher as an amateur, with three KO/TKOs and one submission while going 6-0. When he made his pro debut this year, he became the 1 in the 3-1 record of fellow middleweight Pedro Trujillo. Middleweight is a shallow division, where all you need is to reel off a couple of finishes to catch the eye of the UFC or PFL.
A former D-2 Wrestler at St. Cloud State in Minnesota, Overton is a plus athlete when it comes to MMA. He is fighting out of The Academy in Minnesota. While what he has displayed so far has been fairly basic, he has good endurance and power for middleweight. If he finds himself outgunned on the feet, he has some explosive wrestling to fall back on. His ground-and-pound is good, and he maintains top control with ease despite not having great size at 5’11. If his boxing can continue to progress, he should turn more and more heads. Even at just 1-0, he could be one of the better American Middleweight prospects.
Marcus Nash (5-2) vs Willer Alves (4-0)
I will keep this one brief. I am putting a “definitely watch this” label on this middleweight battle. Both fighters have proven themselves capable of finishing. Alves may have the advantage as far as record, but I am not ready to give up on Marcus Nash as a prospect. Nash will have the power advantage on the feet. He will, more importantly, have a lot more experience fighting solid opponents. Alves swings for the fences on the feet, with decent power but questionable technique. If it hits the mat, his Jiu Jitsu is good enough to dispatch other low-level big men. I think Nash wins this fight, but whoever comes away with the win will have a good feather in their cap.
Zoe Nowicki (3-1)
This 26-year-old flyweight was as decorated an amateur as you can get for women’s MMA. Her record was a stellar 15-0. She similarly dispatched of her first 3 pro opponents before getting her first taste of losing this February. Her loss was to a legitimate opponent in Mariana Piccolo, but the pressure is on to bounce back here. She faces off against 3-4 Micaela Rampage, who is much better than that record would suggest. Nowicki is more than comfortable on her feet, but I don’t think that will lead to much success against Rampage. The height and reach advantage will be an unbelievable 10 inches for Rampage; I can’t wait to see this height discrepancy and if Nowicki can overcome it. Grappling will be her friend, but I’m still unsure if she can overcome the physical difference. If Nowicki can finish Rampage, or just win, her ceiling will rise immensely.
