LFA 35 takes place at Arena Theater in Houston Texas, on Friday (Mar. 9, 2018) at 9pm ET live on AXS TV. The main event initially was slated to have the vacant women’s flyweight title fight with Sabina Mazo taking on Silvana Juarez, instead a 160-pound catchweight fight between Nick Newell against Sonny Luque is the new headliner.
Newell (13-1) will be coming out of retirement for this matchup after he hung up the gloves following his Oct. 2015 victory over Tommy Marcellino at WSOF 24. The 31-year-old has one blemish on his 14-fight resume, that being a second-round TKO loss to Justin Gaethje at WSOF 11 in Aug. 2014. Newell has finished 10 of his 14-career opponents and competes at 160-pounds for the first time in his career. Luque (10-6) has won five of his last six fights, including a TKO victory over Irak Cueto at Combate Extremo in Mexico this past December. The 36-year-old will be making his promotional debut for LFA.
Here’s my interview with Nick Newell
In the co-main event, former LFA heavyweight title challenger Jared Vanderaa faces Vernon Lewis. Vanderaa (6-2) was submitted by Richard Odoms at LFA 15 in the fifth round which was his first career loss. Since then, the 25-year-old has gone 1-1, most recently losing by split decision to Andrew van Zyl at EFC 66 back in December. Lewis (4-3) hasn’t fought since Oct. 2014 where he suffered a first-round TKO loss to Cody East at Legacy FC 36. The 34-year-old has won four of his last five fights.
Here’s my interview with Jared Vanderaa
More LFA 35 interviews…..
Here’s my interview with Adrian Yanez who takes on Nathan Trepagnier
MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas sent out his opening betting odds for the following bouts on the LFA 35 card today. Betting lines courtesy of Several Bookmakers. ——————————————————- LFA 35: Newell vs. Luque
MARCH 9, 2018
Arena Theatre | Houston, Texas
Main Card – (AXS TV, 9PM ET)
Catchweight 160lbs:
Sonny Luque +400
Nick Newell -600
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Heavyweight:
Vernon Lewis +165
Jared Vanderaa -215
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Welterweight:
Thomas Webb +225
Jason Langellier -305
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Featherweight:
Rivaldo Junior -105
Charles Cheeks -135
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Bantamweight:
Nathan Trepagnier +250
Adrian Yanez -350
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