LFA 185: Gennrich vs. Lewis

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Gennrich vs. Lewis
Richie Lewis, DEC
This is a tricky one. Gennrich isn’t amazing but he is very tough to fight. He can be taken down but he has very crafty bjj and is always going to force you to work. He has great cardio as well and can go for days. I’m not totally sure what to think of Lewis. I thought the Ernesto Rodriguez fight was impressive (although sloppy) because 1. It’s aging well and 2. He broke Ernesto with the crazy pace he pushed. However, Lewis has had some very flat performances against cans, and that makes me think other wide about him. His wrestling is very high level but he doesn’t do a ton on top. I think he can out control gennrich, but if gennrich is able to find openings, he will give Lewis a lot of issues. Lewis cardio seems great so he shouldn’t have a ton of issues, but at the same time I’ve never seen him be the nail before. His striking is also really unimpressive to me. Winner should go to dwcs

Kuziutina vs. Ellen
Natasha Kuziutina, DEC
This is a really good test for kuziutina. Ellen is pretty mid but she has a well rounded skillset and has good experience. Shes also pretty durable which helps. I don’t think natasha is a very good striker but her grappling is amazing. She is a judoka & also is a very good athlete. Her last fight with canuto was insane, she showed some of the best sub defense I’ve ever seen. Her age is a hindrance, but I hope someone picks her up. She may not go very far or stay in the sport long, but she is a very fun fighter to watch & has a unique style

Abdibait uulu vs. Junior
Busurmankul Abdibait uulu, TKO, R3
This is an awesome fight. Junior is very explosive but his cardio isn’t great. Busurmankul is pretty well rounded and a much better wrestler. I think Junior is going to make this really tough early on, but once busurmankul survives the early storm I think he will take over. Winner should go to dwcs

Scott vs. Hart
Joey Hart, TKO, R1
Great matchmaking, someone is getting slept bad

Sanson vs. Burkholder
Miguel Sanson, DEC
Sanson is the best 4-2 fighter in mma. He took two very hard fights back to back and was very competitive in both. The an ho fight in particular was very impressive. Burkholder is a really good wrestler but not a great striker & he’s also tiny. I think Sanson gets back to his winning waysb

Majidov vs. Barzilay
Ilay Barzilay, DEC
I don’t think barzilay is very good but this Tajik hasn’t fought in forever and hasn’t fought anyone with a pulse

Big fight for Richie here.
I imagine they'll get him on DWCS with a win here 

* Edited at 05.15.2024, 12:02 AM ET *

Why is Jefferson Nascimento not fighting for this belt?

Nascimento has only ever fought for LFA in Brazil.  This event is in Indiana, USA.  LFA seems to be giving out additional belts to Brazil-only fighters.  They're running their Brazil events almost like a separate thing.  You can see they've done this recently with the LHW strap with LFA 175 (Brazil) and LFA 178 (California) - two diff LHW champs.

@The Giraffe 

Weird, makes sense though.  May as well just start naming Brazil champions, like UAE Warriors does with their belts