Official Results: Kenney def. Cachero via KO at 1:38 into Round 1. pic.twitter.com/0nayEn9BTe
— AXS TV Fights (@AXSTVFights) March 23, 2019
The LFA has crowned its first-ever two-division champion.
Casey Kenney, the reigning LFA interim flyweight champ, snatched up the promotion’s interim bantamweight title in the main event of LFA 62 on Friday night inside The Bomb Factory in Dallas. Kenney, an established jiu jitsu player and judoka, scored the biggest win of his career without the use of his throws or ground skills.
Vince Cachero wanted to stand and trade with Kenney, but that wound up being his downfall. Kenney, who hails from Tucson, got inside on Cachero (6-1) and briefly clinched. From there, Kenney (11-1-1) detonated his left knee square on “The Anomaly’s” face, knocking him completely out. Cachero fell flat onto his back, forcing referee Aladin Martinez to intervene, ending the battle at the 1:38 mark of the first.
Bantamweight contender Levi Mowles nullified virtually everything longtime kickboxer Ahmet Kayretli tried and wound up submitting him in the third. Mowles (11-4) scored numerous takedowns in the match and dominated “The Turk” on the canvas. After rinsing and repeating in the final frame, Mowles eventually mounted Kayretli (9-3) and dished out dozens of punches to the head. With time running out, Kayretli tried escaping, but the Texan sunk in a rear-naked choke and forced the tap. The end came 4:21 into the stanza.
Ramiz Brahimaj lost a decision to Justin Patterson the last time out and he made sure it wouldn’t happen again. The Bronx native clocked fellow welterweight Carlos Martinez (4-4) with a right hook to the face and then quickly took him down. From there, Brahimaj (8-2) immediately locked in an arm-triangle, squeezed and forced Martinez to tap out. The end officially came just 55 seconds into the first.
Bantamweight prospect Cody Freeman had to dig deep to pull out a win over Fernando Garcia in a matchup of Texans. Garcia (5-1) landed a few solid punches to the head and scored a takedown late in the first, but Freeman stormed back in rounds two and three. Freeman (2-2) took “Fernie” down repeatedly and landed just enough strikes to eke out a split decision. One judge had it 29-28 for Garcia, but that tally was overturned by the other two, who had it 29-28 and a puzzling 30-26.
In a catchweight battle that was as close as they come, it was Crystal Vanessa Demopoulos who prevailed over Valerie Soto in a razor-thin decision. “Little Monster” rocked Soto (1-1) with elbows and punches upstairs in the first, blowing up the area beneath her left eye. “Mal Hija” rallied in the second, but Demopoulos (2-1) landed just enough strikes down the stretch to win. One judge saw it even at 28-28, but that score was overturned by a pair of 29-28 tallies in favor of Demopoulos, who won via majority verdict.
Featherweight prospect Austin Lingo once again looked fabulous in the LFA cage as he blew away overmatched Angel Cruz (5-4) in just 25 seconds. Lingo (6-0) dropped his Puerto Rican adversary with a right to the jaw as soon as the fight began and then quickly took his back. From there, the Texan slapped on a rear-naked choke and squeezed until “Tito” went to sleep.