Written by Photo via LFA
LFA CEO Ed Soares has seen fighters from his organization get signed to the UFC for many, many years. With his and the company’s goal of getting as many fighters as possible to the big show, Soares was prepared to see another top prospect leave the company.
“Bia Mesquita,” Soares told MMA Fighting. “She’s really good. I mean, she’s the goat of jiu-jitsu, but I [had a feeling [she’d] be fighting in the UFC real soon.
“I just think, how can she not? There’s a 135-pound division, you’ve got an attractive girl with a great personality, who is tough as nails and goes out there and finishes fights. I mean, I think that checks all the boxes. … It’s pretty cool to think that every single female bantamweight champion in the LFA has been signed by the UFC.”
Mesquita is 5-0 as a pro MMA fighter, and has signed with the UFC to face Irina Alekseeva at UFC Rio on Oct. 11. Four of Mesquita’s victories took place in LFA. In her most recent bout, the jiu-jitsu wizard capture the LFA women’s bantamweight title with a second-round TKO win over Sierra Dinwoodie at LFA 211 in June.
Jackson McVey was another one of the most recent fighters in the organization to get that life-changing phone call to sign with the UFC, making his debut in a losing effort at UFC 318.
With other fighters like Phumi Nkuta being potentially a stoppage win away from getting his opportunity, it will be just another name Soares and LFA will have to say goodbye to, which is as easy as a farewell gets in this crazy sport.
“Yeah, it is [surreal to see our fighters get signed to the UFC], but that’s what we do it for,” Soares said. “It’s really easy for these guys [in other promotions] nowadays to say, ‘Oh yeah, we’re developmental.’ Well, where were you guys back in 2012 when the RFA was the first organization that I was the president of, that we were the first organization and you could look back and look at interviews that we said, ‘We’re a developmental organization for the UFC.’ That’s what we’ve always been. That’s what we always do.
“And then people saw that it was working and then all of a sudden, it seems like people would read my interviews and they start taking things that were said because now everybody’s a developmental organization. But we were the first to do it, and we are the best to do it. And that’s not [just] statistically, that’s anything. Go to ChatGPT and put what’s the No. 1 mixed martial arts developmental organization? And I guarantee you we’re going be there. It’s not even an opinion, it’s like statistically, look at it. I mean, nobody’s done what we’ve done.
“No one is going to do what we do because we just keep getting better, and just keep pulling away from the pack. And that’s what we set out to do, which is be the No. 1 developmental organization in the world. And now I just want to smash everyone else and just keep getting better and better and better, and just push more and more and develop more talent. That’s my goal, and that’s what we’re going to do.”