Lights Out Xtreme Fighting ends its 2021 campaign with one final explosive fight card.
LXF is back for its third and final show of 2021 this Friday, December 10. LXF 7 is headlined by former UFC fighter Roosevelt Roberts (10-3-1), and he is taking on Darren Smith Jr. (20-11). The fight has some history behind it. The pair were supposed to fight back in 2018 in the California Xtreme Fighting finals; however, Roberts got a call from Bellator and then Dana White’s Contender Series.
Roberts would go on and fight in the UFC eight times, going 4-3-1 from 2018 to 2021. He was released earlier this year.
This time around, Roberts vs. Smith will be for the vacant welterweight title. Ahead of the event, LXF co-owner and NFL legend Shawne Merriman gave his thoughts on the match-up.
“You know, it’s funny, I wasn’t around when they were supposed to fight, back when it was California Xtreme Fighting. I got wind of the fight when it was being made, and then I learned about the reasons they didn’t fight and how much pent-up energy there was back then. I was like, yeah, we have to do this one and both of the guys jumped on board. They both have great followings; they sold a lot of tickets. It’s going to be a banger. I really can’t wait for that one,” Merriman told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview.
Merriman said it was very important for LXF to scoop up Roberts once he was released from the UFC. He understands that “The Predator” wants to return to the UFC, and he is more than happy to give him the LXF platform to fight on.
In the co-main event of the evening, Bellator and LFA veteran Ryan Lilley (10-7) fights Tim Riscen (7-3) in a bantamweight match-up.
Both fighters say that it will be the fight of the night, and Merriman agrees.
“I agree with that. I worked out with Ryan and Bas Rutten about a year or two ago. You get around these guys who just love to bang, right? Obviously, there is strategy and things they are going to work on, but when it comes to just wanting to throw and get after it, he is one of those guys. I think the co-main event is going to be the best fight of the night,” Merriman said.
The rest of the card has a bunch of LXF familiar faces and will feature several amateur fights.
Looking forward to next year, Merriman says he is planning to have an LXF event every single month and will keep building the brand.
Watch the rest of our interview with Shawne Merriman above. The event takes place Friday, December 10, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California, and can be seen on fubosportsnetwork.com for free.
The LXF 7 card current looks like this, and the order is TBD.
- Roosevelt Roberts vs. Darren Smith Jr. – for the vacant welterweight championship
- Tim Riscen vs. Ryan Lilley
- Artur Arutyunyan vs. Carlos Morales
- Gilbert Nakatani vs. Mike Hansen
- Arnold Jimenez vs. William Elliot
- Maksim Manukyan vs. Alfredo Borrego
- A.J. Bryant vs. Georgiy Eyvas
- Niko Ruiz vs. Bryant Shell
- JJ Buckner vs. Adryen Spinks – amateur
- Edward Chan vs. Daniel Sanchez – amateur
- Jarred Fiorda vs. Angel Becerra – amateur
- Gevorg Matevosyan vs. Oswaldo Martinez – amateur
- Edrin Adjamian vs. Weston Quiroz – amateur
