LFA 202 takes place this weekend and continues the great run of events LFA has put on this year. The card will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass at 09:00 PM ET.
PHUMI NKUTA (8-0) vs. ADRIAN GARCIA (8-2-1) – Flyweight
Phumi Nkuta has been a great MMA prospect for a long time now, but it seems like he is struggling to get signed to a big promotion. There are a couple theories about this but it's most likely because he doesn't have an exciting style. He is a wrestler who mostly dominates in control. He can grapple effectively but doesn't find submissions super often, leading to half of his wins coming by decision. His striking is okay but I wouldn't say it's great. He can get caught on occasion and his offense is typically high volume boxing combinations while swarming forwards. Adrian Garcia is also a good prospect for the division and could have a chance at defeating Nkuta. He is going to be much bigger, as he looks to be a big flyweight, whereas Nkuta is small for the division. His wrestling is somewhat unknown but he will for sure have a striking advantage. His boxing is effective as he fights from range well, and has great cardio to maintain a high volume attack over 3 rounds. I have to pick Nkuta though as he will shoot for take downs often and I haven't seen any evidence that Garcia will be able to defend them.
Pick: Phumi Nkuta by decision. Medium-high confidence
SHUYA KAMIKUBO (14-2-1) vs. BAKHTOVAR YUNUSOV (10-0) – Bantamweight
This a return fight for both guys. Shuya Kamikubo is fighting for the first time since 2023, and Yunusov is coming back from a near 2 year absence due to visa issues. Both guys are wrestlers with different styles. Shuya Kamikubo fights very similarly to Merab Dvalishvili, but just doesn't have the cardio to pull it off. He looked pretty disappointing in his run on Road to UFC a couple of years ago but has proven himself against good competition at ONE Championship in the past. Yunusov has fought a mixed level of competition but has looked dominant all the way. I didn't see much striking from him as he shoots for take downs pretty often but when he does, he gets them, and dominates in control. Everything I could find on him showed me that he could be a big time prospect if he can win here and sign for a big promotion. From what I have seen Yunusov has now moved to the US and is training at some top grappling gyms. Kamikubo is a great grappler himself but hasn't proven to have good control like Yunusov does.
Pick: Bakhtovar Yunusov by decision or submission. Medium confidence.
JOE TAYLOR (6-0) vs.PHILLIP LATU (6-2) – Light Heavyweight
This is a very hard fight to predict because the details of it are a bit blurry. This fight was added to the tapology website very recently, so I think it could be a short notice fight. But Joe Taylor announced that his fight at LFA 177 in February last year was going to be his final fight. And then he fought again in kickboxing towards the end of the year. Either way, Joe Taylor may be 40 years old but he has had a great combat sports career. He became a kickboxing world champion in 2017, and had multiple fights for GLORY and WKA. He doesn't get many finishes in his MMA fights but he does throw really slick combos and can be very hard to hit. Phillip Latu is also a kickboxer and I wasn't very impressed with him when I was researching the Contender Series. Despite getting knocked out by Navajo Stirling, he still put up a decent fight and even hit Navajo with some good shots. This seems to be a similar stylistic match up which is probably why he took it. This is a hard fight to pick but I am going to side with Latu. He will be more well rounded and at least I know he hasn't potentially retired.
Pick: Phillip Latu by decision. Low confidence.
SIERRA DINWOODIE (3-0) vs. NIKOL AGUIRRE (2-0) – Women's Bantamweight
Hard to tell how good Dinwoodie is as she hasn't fought great competition yet but so far she has looked good. She is 5'11” at women's bantamweight which is insane. She looks compared to all of her opponents and this will be no different. She is coming off a big win where she dominated in the grappling. She is fighting another grappler but we have already seen her show decent take down defense. I think she could have potential just given how big she is for the weight class.
Pick: Sierra Dinwoodie by decision. Medium-high confidence.
PRELIMS:
Nayimi vs. Wiggins. Pick: Nayimi by decision. Low-medium confidence.
Carrier vs. Pufahl. Carrier by decision. Low confidence.
