On Thursday, Sept. 11, Resurrection Fighting Alliance hosted the weigh-ins for its 18th event which takes place Friday, Sept. 12 from the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M.
In the night’s main event, flyweight champion Matt Manzanares will defend his 125-pound title against Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja. Originally, Manzanares was expected to face Joby Sanchez, but Sanchez received a contract from the UFC. The 28-year-old Manzanares captured gold at RFA 14 in April with a decision win over Junior Maranhão. The 24-year-old Pantoja will make both his promotional and US debut at the event. The dynamic Brazilian fighter is the Shooto Brazil champion and currently rides a seven-fight winning streak that includes five finishes.
In the night’s co-main event, former UFC fighter and multiple-division Tachi Palace title holder Ulysses Gomez will step into the RFA cage for the first time against DREAM and King of the Cage veteran Abel Cullum. Eighteen of the pair’s 27 wins have come via submission.
Also on the card, Chidi Njokuani faces submission specialist Steve Hanna, Brenda Gonzales takes on Heather Bassett in a women’s bantamweight match-up, France’s Mehdi Baghdad faces Evan DeLong in lightweight action and Justin Linn and Adrian Cruz square off in a 140-pound catchweight.
The RFA 18 main card will air live on AXS TV on Friday, Sept. 12, beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
Ulysses Gomez (135.8) vs. Abel Cullum (135.4)
Chidi Njokuani (173.2)* vs. Steve Hanna (171)
Brenda Gonzales (135.6) vs. Heather Bassett (138.4)*
Mehdi Baghdad (156) vs. Evan DeLong (155)
Adrian Cruz (139.6) vs. Justin Linn (141)
Tim Sosa (125.4) vs. Zac Riley (125.8)
Federico Betancourt (143) vs. Jesse Long (145.2)
Nicco Montano (135.6) vs. Allison Price (135.4) (a)
Jess Martinez (154) vs. Bronson Mitchell (156) (a)
Ernesto Salvidrez (155.8) vs. Ian Velasquez (152.6) (a)
(a) – denotes amateur contest
* – Njokuani and Bassett were both fined a percentage of their fight purse for missing weight