LFA 157: Croden vs. Cavalcanti is a mixed martial arts event promoted by Legacy Fighting Alliance and will take place on April 21, 2023 at the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota, United States.
Fight Card
Main Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Melissa Croden vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti 135 lbs Vacant Bantamweight Championship
Bobby Lee vs. Arthur Estrázulas 155 lbs
Kegan Gennrich vs. Richie Miranda 155 lbs
Alden Coria vs. Jesse Martinelli 125 lbs
Marnic Mann vs. Amber Brown 115 lbs
Quang Le vs. Ira Lukowsky 135 lbs
Amari Sengsavanh vs. Kibedy Gordon 140 lbs
Preliminary Card
Griffin Parriott vs. Kurtis Ellis 150 lbs
Rachael Lippert vs. Mariana Piccolo 125 lbs
Tom Krenzel vs. Jackson McVey 185 lbs
Austin Judge vs. Cliff Wright 165 lbs
Santos Verdinez vs. Pierre Ba 140 lbs
Mitchell Wilson vs. Brock Hamer 155 lbs
Noah Gasho vs. Jeffrey Tuley 135 lbs
Dylan Kiskila vs. Brandon Mills 145 lbs
Background
LFA will return to Minnesota in April. The main event of LFA 157 will feature the women’s bantamweight championship. The headliner will crown the second women’s bantamweight champion in LFA history. The first LFA title fight in this division saw both participants, Sarah Alpar and Joselyne Edwards, go on to sign with the UFC. LFA 157 will be the eighteenth LFA event to take place in the state.
LFA 157 takes place Friday, April 21st at the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota. The main event will feature a women’s bantamweight title fight when top Canadian prospect Melissa “Scare” Croden faces top Portuguese prospect Jacqueline Cavalcanti.
“We are excited to bring the women’s bantamweight championship to Minnesota at LFA 157,” stated LFA CEO Soares. “Canada’s Melissa Croden and Portugal’s Jacqueline Cavalcanti are the top two female 135-pound prospects in the world. They have identical records and have won regional titles in various countries. Now they are looking to stand alone as the top prospect in the division. The clearest and most concrete way to determine this is by winning the LFA title. The world will be watching when Croden and Cavalcanti meet at Mystic Lake on April 21st.”
Croden (4-1) has long been considered the next-big-thing when it comes to the women’s bantamweight division in Canada. This is a country that has produced Strikeforce title challenger Sarah Kaufman and UFC title challenger Alexis Davis, who both challenged Ronda Rousey during her legendary MMA career. Since that time, Canada has been searching for its next top contender in the division and many MMA pundits have pegged Croden to be just that. Hailing from the Rocky Mountains of Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Croden trains out of Ravenhouse MMA in Crowsnest and Champion’s Creed MMA in Calgary. She has also spent time training stateside with UFC fighter and LFA great Hailey Cowan. “Scare” Croden went undefeated with a 5-0 record as an amateur before enjoying similar success as a pro. That success culminated in winning a regional crown in Canada this past August, when she defeated Swedish standout Cornelia Holm via TKO. Croden now hopes to join Lupita Godinez and Jamey-Lyn Horth as the third fighter from Canada to win LFA gold.
Cavalcanti (4-1) carries similar hopes of a nation as she is currently the top women’s MMA prospect from Portugal. Cavalcanti was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, but moved to Portugal with her family when she was 11-years-old. The Brazilian-Portuguese fighter has called Almada, Portugal home ever since. The city is located on the southern margin of the Tagus River on the opposite side of the river from the nation’s capital city of Lisbon. It is there where she trains at Reborn Fight Team and has honed her craft to quickly become one of Europe’s most promising prospects. In fact, her presence has already been felt around the world in her first five fights. That is because each of those fights has taken place in a different country. Those countries include Portugal, France, the United States, United Arab Emirates, and Spain. Cavalcanti’s crowning moment also came in her most recent fight, when she traveled to her Iberian neighbor to the east and captured a regional title in Spain. She now hopes to become the first LFA champion from Portugal.
