Samurai Fight House has risen to prominence since 2022 as Argentina’s top MMA promotion. Notable alumni include UFC fighters Kevin Vallejos, Esteban Ribovics, Francisco Prado, and Ailín Pérez. Also, plenty of other talents that competed for DWCS and ONE. As a promotion, they tend to build their prospects slowly. They can be prone to can-crush matchups. To their credit, though, they’re good at uncovering exciting action fighters and giving them the right conditions to develop into stars.
With no UFC this week, SFH’s 25th event stands out as one of the best cards to watch this weekend. Holding five title fights and lots of exciting prospects worth highlighting. This is the promotion’s 5th show in Uruguay, and it’s clear they’re also trying to expand their talent pool by bringing in fighters from the rest of South America. Even a few from the USA, as you will see on this card. Below, I’ve got a list of everyone worth keeping tabs on tomorrow. And going forward, roughly in order of how promising I see them as prospects. The top 5 are all on my personal watchlist, while the rest all have potential but are less proven or have some flaws I’m still unsure about.
1. Luciano Pereira: 14-1, 24 years old
Pereira is one of the best prospects in Uruguay and looked to be on the fast track to stardom after moving to 13-0 and winning the SFH title at flyweight in 2023. He’s an explosive athlete who likes to wrestle and has the scrambling chops to turn bad positions into strong top control and heavy GnP. Most of his wins came by smashing people on the ground, though many of those opponents weren’t great. His hands are also naturally heavy, so he’s able to score knockdowns when landing cleanly.
However, his career has gotten off track with a DQ loss in his first title defense. Following that, a massive weight miss that cancelled his DWCS opportunity later that year. A series of injuries to him or opponents kept him inactive until last October. He ran through Lucas Chavez (6-3-1) for a TKO in 1:19 despite fighting up in weight. He’s at bantamweight this week, which should be his weight class going forward, as he has too much muscle mass to go back to 125. Diego Teixeira (7-4) shouldn’t be much of a challenge for Luciano. So I expect to see another quick finish, and hopefully, he can stay active and regain his promising trajectory.
2. Albano Sanchez: 5-0, 20 years old
Both the youngest and the least experienced of these prospects, Sanchez represents a bigger boom-bust, but his potential is exciting at his age. He’s athletic, and at 5’1,0 he’s a tall bantamweight. He may have to move up to 145 as he gets older and fills out. As an amateur, he went 9-3 and beat some strong opponents, which definitely covers for his lack of pro fights.
BJJ is his strongest attribute, with a diverse arsenal that lets him threaten from anywhere on the ground. He’s only been a pro for a little over a year and has stayed active. His opponents’ combined 10-10 record shows they’ve been mediocre. Albano’s best win came in September with an R1 RNC over a 3-0 opponent. It was impressive enough to earn him an SFH debut this weekend.
Unfortunately, his original opponent pulled out, so he’s now facing a 3-8 can, which shouldn’t be a competitive fight. I’ll be interested to see how his striking looks as there isn’t much footage out there on it.
3. Lucas Miletich: 12-2, 26 years old
Everyone loves an action fighter, and with just one decision in his 12 wins, Miletich fits that bill. His two losses came against Vallejos early in his career and Inglesson de Lara (8-1). He’s otherwise consistently finished high-quality opponents in the first two rounds. He’s very aggressive and can often take unnecessary damage while chasing his opponents. His chin is generally good enough to take their offerings, and his power is almost always going to win a brawl. He’s 6’1” and will need to make better use of that height to fight a little more technically as he fights top competition. For now, he’s very fun to watch. Miletich won’t shoot a lot of takedowns, but he’s comfortable on the ground. He can pull off RNCs if he gets to the back, though that’s usually against lower-level guys.
As the interim featherweight champion for the second time in his career, he’s trying to unify his belt against Esteban Pereira (15-4). Pereira has an impressive record and is on a 6-fight win streak, but is an undersized submission specialist with a mediocre chin. The ingredients are all there for a highlight KO from Miletich, which would extend his own win streak to 5. That would move him towards a potential LFA return or DWCS opportunity in 2026.
4. Carlos Petruzzella: 14-1, 28 years old
Petruzzella has been with SFH since some of their earliest events and has accumulated an 11-0 record with the promotion. Including an absurd 8-0 in title fights at 170/185 pounds. He’s a frustrating prospect, though, as he’s got a great frame with plenty of muscle and clear BJJ skills. Petruzzella’s striking has barely improved in the years I’ve watched him. His wrestling is also not at the level it needs to be for someone who wants to grapple every fight.
Petruzzella’s LFA debut earlier this year against Joseilton Santos (10-0) exposed some of his flaws. Despite the reach advantage, Carlos’ jabs were so slow and stiff that they didn’t have much effect. When he throws with more power, he’s often wild, and in general, he’s quite hittable. It’s got him knocked down before, as he even tried to get a takedown. While he managed to get up, another overhand to the chin put his lights out for the first setback of his career.
A September matchup against Diego Robledo (16-14) ended in just 45 seconds for an easy rebound. Now, he gets another favorable matchup against Nicolas Martinez (8-6) in another title shot. He’s clearly one of the best 185ers in Argentina and has the BJJ to cause problems. Still, he’s going to need to make big striking improvements before his next step up.
5. Omar Arteaga: 13-2, 27 years old
Arteaga is another longtime SFH fighter with a 10-2 promotional record. With wins over some strong opponents, he’s also sprinkled in a pair of losses now that he’s facing tougher competition. His background is in Sanda, and you see some of that striking background in his kicks – mainly calf kicks. However, his massive power has proven to be a blessing and a curse. Artega hits hard enough to sleep anyone, which has led to 9 KOs in his career. His wrestling entries are well-timed, but there’s not much once he’s on the ground, and he can fall behind in positional exchanges. Most of his career has come at bantamweight, but he has made it clear that featherweight is now his division. He faces Jose Trindade (17-5), a Uruguayan hometown favorite with an inflated record who Arteaga should be able to run over.
6. Johan Murillo: 5-0, 22 years old
There aren’t many Venezuelan prospects, but Murillo has a chance to be quite good despite a few challenges. Well-rounded for his age, and is a strong enough athlete to dominate lower-level fighters. Murillo went 4-0 as an amateur and made his pro debut in September 2024. SFH brought him in for his next four fights, and he’s continued to show promise with four R1 finishes. However, against inexperienced opponents and the same can twice. His decision win over Esteban Araujo (3-0) is his best, though still not a clear sign since his opponent was a teenager. He’ll continue to pad his record on Sunday against a 1-1 opponent, which will bring him to 4-0 in 2025 and set him up for more success next year.
7. Matias Valdes: 5-0, 24 years old
Valdes is a similar case to Murillo, though a couple of years older and without the amateur experience. He’s originally a boxer and has nice hand speed. His resume includes three KOs and two RNC submissions, so he’s not fully one-dimensional. Two wins in his native Chile complement his 3-0 slate with SFH, though his best opponent to date has been 2-0. This week’s opponent, Esteban Araujo (10-8), has several times more experience than everyone Valdes has fought combined. He’s a reasonable step up but should still be a winnable matchup for Valdes.
8. Gian Maurente: 7-1, 22 years old
Maurente is the reigning SFH lightweight champion and has spent most of his career with the promotion. He is only on a 2-fight winning streak, though. All of his wins come in R1 with four chokes and three GnP KOs as he tends to blast through opponents, then dominate once he’s on top. However, that’s mostly possible since his competition has been weak, with his lone loss coming against Ignacio Famozo (4-1) in his best challenge. Since he’s Uruguayan, I’m sure SFH wants to see him succeed at home. His opponent, Lucas Codutti (10-2) has a good record. He’s another grappling specialist who shouldn’t be as strong as Maurente and may struggle to catch him with a submission. I expect a GnP finish, though it might not come in R1, which would be a good test of Maurente’s cardio after it didn’t impress in his loss.
9. CJ Brant: 6-2, 28 years old
Brant is following in the footsteps of Jimmie Pace, who had a mediocre start to his professional career in the USA, so he moved to SFH to win some titles. He parlayed that into a DWCS invite in 2025 (though he had to withdraw), and Brant will be hoping to do the same in 2026. Brant was 9-2 as an amateur against some strong competition with the muscle and explosion to draw interest. However, a 3-2 pro start, including losses in LFA and CFF,C considerably cooled the hype. Brant’s SFH debut came in June, and he picked up three straight R1 finishes in just three months, including the welterweight title against Rafael Sarmiento (10-2) in September. He continues to be very active with his first title defense just a couple of months later against Alejandro Castillo (12-7), who shouldn’t be able to match CJ’s physicality. He’s still a few wins away from a higher-level opportunity, but he’s in the right promotion to keep stacking those up rapidly.