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Canarians of the Cage: Oscar Mendez, Kevin Cordero, and LFA’s Inaugural European Event
By Danny Jones, @Tidy_MMA on X
Following twenty-four stellar international events across seven Brazilian localities, the premier developmental organization in mixed martial arts augments its global reach for its twenty-fifth venture overseas with LFA 218. On September 27th 2025, Legacy Fighting Alliance arrives at the Pabellón Insular Santiago Martín in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife for its inaugural European event.
Equidistant to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro and Floridian city of Tampa, San Cristóbal de La Laguna is the easternmost city to host an LFA event. Situated in the Spanish province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, it is the third-most populous city in the Canary Islands, an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean located northwest of the African continent.
In-keeping with its commitment to promote local rising talent, LFA proudly welcomes the arrival of Spanish athletes to its roster for the first time in promotion history at LFA 218. Notably, two of these debuting Spaniards – Oscar Mendez and Kevin Cordero – are born-and-raised Canary Islanders.
Ahead of LFA’s historic event in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, LFA.com spoke with Oscar Mendez and Kevin Cordero. Here, we introduce both athletes, and share their respective insights into the Canarian mixed martial arts scene.
Oscar Mendez
Under the guidance of coaches Moisés Ruibal, Erick Perry, and Susana Llarena, Oscar Mendez trains out of Fight Club Moi-Rui & Susi Team in the town of Acorán, located on the outskirts of Tenerife’s capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The 26-year-old is a training partner of Reda Abdellaoui and Santhiago Paiva, both of whom also compete at LFA 218.
Returning to competition just nine-weeks after securing a first-round TKO stoppage of Argentina’s David Herrera, the Tenerife-native enters LFA 218 holding a 6-2 professional record, with all eight bouts contested in Tenerife. The Spaniard, participating in his third professional bout of 2025, competes on the main-card against England’s Daniel Holt.
“I understand how big this is, and I’m actually very happy that I can have this chance to fight on LFA – especially to fight on the main [card]” Oscar admits. “I feel proud from it, so I want to make a great fight”.
Herculean in strength and spirit, Oscar notably displayed commendable toughness in his loss to Abubakar Sabirov earlier this year. Despite badly breaking the index metacarpal of his right hand in the first exchange of the bout, the Canarian valiantly continued competing deep into the second round, and remarkably earned a “Takedown of the Night” for his performance. Attesting to the Spaniard’s incredible resilience, the 26-year-old returned to competition just 24-weeks post-injury to secure the first TKO victory of his professional career.
Born-and-raised in Tenerife, Oscar was inspired to pursue a journey in mixed martial arts at age “12 or 13”. As such, the lightweight has extensive first-hand experience of the island’s mixed martial arts scene, and performing in front of Tenerife’s passionate fight-fans.
“If we have in consideration that it is an island, MMA is growing a lot in Tenerife” Oscar explains. “It’s not so big yet, as [it is in] Las Palmas [in Gran Canaria] or even the mainland, but it’s growing a lot. Every time, every year, [there are] more and more fighters”
“From what I understand and from the people that are talking to me, there are high expectations of the audience to see LFA in action” Oscar says. “I think the audience will be very participative, but they are not as noisy as the French!”.
Kevin Cordero
Competing in his twenty-first professional bout at LFA 218, Kevin Cordero holds an impressive 15-5 professional record that includes notable victories over LFA alumnus Luciano Ramos and Bellator alumnus Ricky Bandejas. Remarkably, the 25-year-old has competed at flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight since launching his professional mixed martial arts career in 2017, and holds regional championships at both flyweight and bantamweight.
Born-and-raised in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on the island of Gran Canaria, Kevin trains under the tutelage of coaches Jonathan León and Isidro Sánchez at Black Lion Team in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The Palmense athlete describes the island, the third-largest of the archipelago, as a pioneer for mixed martial arts in his home country.
“Gran Canaria was one of the first places in Spain to have MMA” Kevin explains. “[Gran Canaria was] actually leading the MMA scene with fighters [in Spain]”.
Across his professional career, Kevin has contested athletes from Scotland, China, Spain, Brazil, England, Portugal, USA, Argentina, Ireland and Georgia. Now, the Spaniard – who is returning for his first professional bout in 456 days – looks towards his first Italian opponent; Walter Cogliandro.
Collectively, both Kevin Cordero and Walter Cogliandro have contested a combined 43 professional bouts heading into LFA 218. The tantalising matchup, which marks Kevin’s second professional bout at featherweight, serves as a fitting co-main event to a stacked card on September 27th – an honor that is not lost on the Canarian.
“I’m very pleased with being the co-main event of the first LFA [event in Europe]” Kevin says. “I know the exposure that brings, and that can only make me happy and excited”.
An Alumnus’ Words of Wisdom
On September 13th 2025, promoter Fight 2 One uploaded a video to Instagram featuring UFC athlete and former LFA strawweight champion Piera Rodríguez. Addressing her audience in Spanish, the Venezuelan spoke of the incredible opportunity that awaits European athletes with the arrival of LFA to Tenerife, stating “This is very important for MMA throughout Europe and especially in Spain. So, to all my followers I come to leave you this message. If you’re in Spain, if you’re in Europe, start training because it puts the very good thing in Europe in terms of martial arts… like me, hundreds of fighters have entered the UFC through the LFA super platform, so this is very good news for martial arts in Spain and everywhere in Europe”.
Having competed in Spain in her early professional career, “La Fiera” is an authentic example of the trajectory one’s career can take with the platform offered by LFA. Undoubtedly, her words will inspire the countless athletes witnessing the international expansion of mixed martial arts’ premier development promotion onto European shores.
Make no mistake, LFA’s highly anticipated arrival in Tenerife marks the beginning of something truly special. LFA 218 on September 27th 2025 is simply unmissable.
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