On Friday, Aug. 22, Resurrection Fighting Alliance held its 17th event. The promotion hosted the first sanctioned MMA event in South Dakota when it visited the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
The nightâs top billing was a lightweight title affair between longtime RFA veteran Dakota Cochrane and Californiaâs Christos Giagos. Cochrane rode a two-fight winning streak, having bested Ultimate Fighter winner Efrain Escudero at RFA 13 in March before knocking out UFC veteran Anton Kuivanen in just 48 seconds in June. Giagos, meanwhile, rode a three-fight streak of his own, with all three victories coming before the final bell. The Tachi Palace veteran had scored a stoppage in seven of his nine career wins, including five via knockout.
In the nightâs co-main event, the promotionâs 145-pound title was on the line when UFC veteran Justin Lawrence took on Mark Dickman. Lawrence had competed just once since his UFC release, topping Luis Saldana at RFA 10 via decision. Dickman rode a four-fight winning streak, including a second-round submission win over Raoni Barcelos at RFA 14 in April.
Also on the main card, Luke Sanders made his bantamweight debut against Darrick Minner, middleweight Francisco âKikoâ France took on Isaac Appel, welterweights Donavon Winters and Jordon Larson squared off, and, in the first main-card bout, Cory Galloway faced off with Brazilâs Bruno Frazatto at bantamweight.
The six-fight main card aired live on AXS TV beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
Justin Lawrence def. Mark Dickman by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 50-45) â for featherweight title
Luke Sanders def. Darrick Minner by TKO (strikes). Round 2, 3:15 – bantamweight No. 1 contender’s bout
Francisco âKikoâ France def. Isaac Appel by submission (kimura). Round 1, 3:46
Jordon Larson def. Donavon Winters by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Bruno Frazatto def. Cory Galloway by submission (triangle choke). Round 1, 1:32
Doug Jenkins def. Danny White by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 2, 2:33
Clay Wimmer def. Devin Turner by TKO (strikes). Round 3, 3:00
Devin Clark def. Aaron Brown by TKO (punches). Round 2, 4:02
Te Edwards def. Bryce Logan by knockout (punch). Round 1, 0:33
Logan McPadden def. Michael Messer by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 1, 2:45 (a)
Alan Sehr def. Apollo Swanson by submission (d’arce choke). Round 2, 2:16 (a)
(a) – denotes amateur contest