On Friday, Oct. 9, Resurrection Fighting Alliance hosted its 31st event from the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center in Las Vegas. The night’s main card aired live on AXS TV at 10 p.m. ET.
In the night’s main event, a pair of UFC veterans locked horns as welterweight champion Gilbert Smith put his belt on the line against Bristol Marunde. Both fighters competed on The Ultimate Fighter, but both were subsequently released following losses. Smith had rebounded with wins in six of his last eight bouts, including a third-round submission of Benjamin Smith at RFA 26 in June. Marunde made his promotional debut having won four straight bouts.
The co-main event also featured RFA gold on the line as the promotion’s vacant strawweight title was up for grabs for Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger. Her opponent, Zoila Frausto, missed weight for the title fight and cannot capture the 115-pound strap with a win. Frausto, a former Bellator MMA champion and Invicta FC veteran, was making her promotional debut after a lengthy absence from the cage. Her last win came in 2012 under the Bellator banner. Jones-Lybarger, meanwhile, had never tasted defeated in the RFA cage. The 30-year-old had won three straight leading into the title affair.
Above are video highlights of the main card (courtesy of AXS TV).
Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger def. Zoila Frausto by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) – for strawweight title
Gabriel Checco def. Mike Jasper by submission (triangle-armbar). Round 3, 4:15
Matthew Lopez def. Justin Linn via submission (face crank). Round 1, 2:18
Bojan Velickovic def. Vardan Sholinian by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Zach Riley def. Shai Lindsey by submission (triangle choke). Round 1, 0:59
Zane Behrend def. David Arcangel by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 2, 1:12
Jason Pacheco vs. Jamin Tayaba by submission (kimura). Round 2, 3:54
Jeff Roman def. Hector Saldana by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Corey Turner def. Marty Sader by knockout (punch). Round 1, 0:18 (a)
(a) – denotes amateur contest