LFA 182: McKee vs. Hernandez is set for April 26

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – LFA CEO Ed Soares announced today that the promotion will return to South Dakota in April. The main event of LFA 182 will feature a bantamweight showdown between Midwest rivals and two of the sport’s most promising prospects. This will be the eighteenth LFA event to take place in the state. RFA hosted four events in the “Mount Rushmore State” before the merger of RFA and Legacy FC that created LFA.

LFA 182 is presented by BETONLINE, and takes place Friday, April 26th at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The main event will feature a bantamweight showdown when NCAA Division I All-American wrestler “Merciless” Mitch McKee faces regional kingpin Jose “Nano” Hernandez. The entire main card will be available worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

“We are excited to return to South Dakota with a high-stakes headliner at LFA 182,” stated Soares. “Mitch McKee and Jose Hernandez are two of the most promising prospects in the bantamweight division. McKee is an All-American wrestler from the University of Minnesota, while Hernandez is a regional champion that prides himself on being a wrestler’s kryptonite. Sioux Falls, South Dakota is one of our most frequented destinations and this is the perfect headliner to celebrate our decade-long history at the Sanford Pentagon.”

McKee (5-0) is one of the most decorated wrestlers to ever compete for the NCAA Division I wrestling powerhouse program at the University of Minnesota. Likewise, he is now one of the most decorated collegiate wrestlers currently competing in professional MMA. During his time competing for the Golden Gophers, McKee was a one-time All-American, four-time NCAA National Qualifier, two-time U.S. Junior Freestyle Wrestling National Champion, and currently ranks twelfth all-time for the program with 33 career pins. The man known as “Merciless” has been just as merciless in the Octagon as he was on the mats. In five career MMA bouts, he finished his first four opponents by knockout or technical knockout with the fifth victory winning the&#a0;LFA Fans’ Choice Awards: Fight of the Year&#a0;in 2023. That perfect 5-0 run also includes a pair of wins in the Sanford Pentagon.

Hernandez (4-1) is a man that grew up in Kearney, Nebraska, which is the town where the RFA got its start. In fact, he began his amateur MMA career after seeing the promotion host four of its first five events in the Central Nebraska&#a0;city. Later, after RFA merged with Legacy FC to create LFA, the promotion returned to Kearney in September 2018. One month later, “Nano” decided to make his professional MMA debut and the rest is history. The proud Nebraskan has benefited from growing up in a wrestling hotbed with a heavy MMA presence and that influence has been transparent in his fighting style. Known as a “wrestler killer”, Hernandez has built a reputation in the bantamweight division for dismantling some of its top wrestlers. This was on full display in his last bout, when he ended the 8-fight win streak of regional champion and collegiate wrestler Alan Olivas.

LFA 182 will also feature the LFA debut of Jesse Delgado (1-0), who is one of the most decorated collegiate wrestlers to enter the flyweight division of MMA. Delgado enjoyed a legendary wrestling career at the University of Illinois with 101 career victories. In that time, he achieved NCAA Division I All-American status three times and became an NCAA Division I National Champion twice at 125-pounds. This made Delgado the first Fighting Illini wrestler to win back-to-back national titles in 56 years. The man welcoming Delgado to the LFA Octagon is Nicholas “Jedi” Gjelaj (1-0), who just won his professional MMA debut last month at LFA 176. Gjelaj is a promising Albanian prospect with an amateur background in MMA and Muay Thai dating back to 2021. The young flyweight trains out of the famed Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Currently Announced Fight Card (Main Card will be available worldwide on UFC FIGHT PASS):

Main Event | Bantamweight Bout (135 lb)

Mitch McKee (5-0) vs. Jose Hernandez&#a0;(4-1)

Welterweight Bout (170 lb)

Haris Talunde;ik (6-2) vs. Keyth Dawson (4-5)

Flyweight Bout (125 lb)

Nate Smith (7-4) vs. Christian Ynastrilla (10-4)

Welterweight Bout (170 lb)

Matt Loi (2-0) vs. James Martin (1-0)

Flyweight Bout (125 lb)

Jesse Delgado (1-0) vs. Nicholas Gjelaj (1-0)