Trio of new champions take charge at LXF 4

Albert Morales (10-6-1) butchered the left eye of Ryan Lilley (10-6) for two consecutive rounds and the doctor called a halt to the action three seconds into round three, awarding Morales a TKO win and crowning the Belizean bantamweight as the division’s champion. Morales survived a brief scare in the first round when Lilley rattled the former six-fight UFC veteran and buckled his knees. Morales quickly got his wits back and went on to score flying knees and a diet of rocking right hands that eventually nearly shut Lilley’s eye.

Arut Pogosjan (7-3) scored the win of his life and secured LXF’s super lightweight championship when he knocked out Joshua Jones (9-5) with 30 seconds left in the first round. The Armenian fighter who trains in Colorado with Alistair Overeem scrambled the senses of Jones and landed a series of unanswered elbows on the mat, slicing the fighter’s head before referee James Beers stepped in to save Jones from any further damage.

Former NFL player Chris McCain (3-0), who scored five sacks for the Chargers in 2017, continued on his quest in a new career in MMA by scoring a guillotine choke with 13 seconds remaining in round two of Anthony Taufi (1-2) in an LXF D-League heavyweight affair. The fast-developing McCain showed a new side to his game through the ground after finishing mostly fighting his first two matches on his feet.

LXF co-founder and Chargers legend Shawne Merriman stepped into the cage to congratulate McCain’s win after the fight.

In other action, Hunter Carlyle (8-1) waltzed his way into the ring under disco music and 70s vibes and severely pumped the brakes on touted prospect Jean-Paul Bosnoyan (2-1) with a come-from behind TKO win at the 1:50 marker of the first round. The 20-year-old Bosnoyan, a former undefeated amateur, was having his way with the veteran Carlyle, cutting the upper right cheek less than two minutes into the affair. Bosnoyan, in full offense mode, got caught with a Carlyle counter right hook that connected on the button and dropped him. Carlyle spotted the wounded young lion on the mat thereafter and finished him with a series of hammer fists.

In an international affair with a contrast of styles, Armenian-Ukrainian bantamweight wrestler Liudvik Sholinian (7-1-1) defeated Japanese kickboxer Yuma Horiuchi (7-2) via split decision by scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29.

Brian Del Rosario (5-3) made his third LXF appearance and got back into the win column by defeating Dean Hancock (4-4) via TKO at the 1:07 marker of round one. Del Rosario scored a thudding left hook that hurt and dropped Hancock. Referee James Beers stepped in to save Hancock from any further punishment.

The Bas Rutten-trained Zack Kraschinsky (1-0) made a successful pro debut by scoring a rear naked choke of Christian Bizarretty (2-9) at 2:58 of round one.