LFA continues to give fighters a platform to showcase their skills, build their brands, and make their way to the UFC all under the leadership of CEO Ed Soares and his top-notch team at Legacy Fighting Alliance.
In this MMA landscape where promotions continue to try and compete with the UFC we’ve seen many come and go. The days of PRIDE, WEC and Strikeforce are long gone. Promotions like Bellator are no longer here. Organizations like PFL and ONE Championship continue to struggle in their quest to compete with the UFC.
LFA meanwhile has created it’s own niche in the sport. The organization has given fighters a place to fight on the world stage before reaching promotions like the UFC. It’s made LFA one of the most consistent and strong promotions in the world today.
“It’s not even a matter of what I think. Factually it is. Just the other day I was messing around with Chat GPT. I said, ‘What is the #1 developmental organization in the world, mixed martial arts organization in the world?’ LFA came up number one,” Soares told Cageside Press.
“Then I put ‘What are the top 10 best mixed martial arts organizations’. I think we were 5th or 6th. We should have been higher because they still had Bellator in there as #4, and Bellator doesn’t even exist anymore.”
Throughout the years LFA has sent over 300 fighters and counting to the UFC. Many have become champions including Alex Pereira, Sean O’Malley, Alexandre Pantoja, Kamaru Usman, and Valentina Shevchenko just to name a few.
Soares gives the credit to the team he’s built at LFA for the success they’ve had. From top to bottom LFA has some of the best people in the MMA space.
“Once again, I’m not saying it ask Chat GPT. That’s no opinion. Ask AI. We’ve worked really hard. I know that a lot of times I’m kind of the face of the company, and I get the credit, but I don’t deserve the credit all the way,” he said.
“Sure I deserve my merit of credit, fine, but it’s really our team. We have an incredible team.”
Fighter development is at the forefront of LFA’s mission in getting fighters ready for the next level. Just recently it was announced that LFA featherweight champion Lerryan Douglas will appear on this season of Dana White’s Contender Series fighting for a UFC contract.
“That’s one of the things we pride ourselves on here at the LFA. We just don’t give these athletes fights. We really prepare them to go up to the next level, and not only get there, but perform well when they’re there. This year, I’m not sure where we’re at now, but I believe we’re at like $1.1 million so far this year in alumni getting bonuses of the night,” said Soares.
“The featherweight division in our organization is one of the most stacked. I put that against any organization out there excluding the UFC of course. We have the baddest dudes on the planet that aren’t signed by the UFC.”
LFA continues it’s 2025 schedule this Friday with LFA 211 from Salamanca, New York headlined by the vacant bantamweight title bout between undefeated fighters Beatriz Mesquita and Sierra Dinwoodie.
“I’m expecting an incredible fight. I don’t it’ll go to the decision and you’ve got a girl who’s got decent striking against a girl who is one of the best at Jiu Jitsu. It’s definitely kind of like that old school striker versus grappler sort of fight. I definitely feel the winner of this fight should be going to the UFC,” he said.
LFA 211 will also mark the second LFA bout for Phumi Nkuta. The undefeated flyweight just fought in February and is back once again this time against former champion Cody Davis.
“He’s 9-0 now, he’s fighting Cody Davis who is our former champ, and I think these are the types of fights that the world wants to see. These are the types of fights that prepare you to get to the next level. Phumi is a very exciting fighter. Cody just keeps getting better and better with his grappling and his submissions. It’s got all the ingredients to be a barn burner,” he said.
For Soares watching his fighters get called up to the UFC is a point of pride for a man who’s mission is to help them get to the top. Even after all these years it’s still a big deal for the LFA CEO.
“I get so happy when I see these young guys coming through, whether they get called to Contenders, called to move up. That’s what I do it for,” he said.
“I sit back and I think about man when I’m gone, in the business world, what do I want people to think about. I want them to think I made a difference, and made a difference in the sport and helped people move up and made a difference in people’s lives.”
Watch the entire interview with LFA CEO Ed Soares above.
