NFA: Sacrifice and Glory - Preview

Building on the momentum of the extremely popular "Twas the Fight Before Christmas," the Nemesis Fighting Alliance returns to Casa Loma for "Sacrifice and Glory."

Brad Cary and Co. packed the ballroom on Cherokee Street to close out 2018, and featured an action-packed night of fights capped by Julius Anglickas scoring the main event victory over the "Black Spartan" Rashid Abdullah. Anglickas would parley the win over Abdullah into a title shot at Legacy Fighting Alliance in February. He would go onto capture light heavyweight title on AXS TV in February in a second-round stoppage.

Headlining the April 13th event is featherweight Sean Woodson from the Wolves' Den taking on a yet to be named opponent. Woodson (5-0) is one of the best-unsigned prospects in St. Louis and is looking to get one more fight in before making a run at the Dana White Contender's Series this summer. Woodson was schedule to face Damion Shehan, but Shehan was forced off the card with injury. It may be difficult to find an opponent for a prospect of Woodson's caliber, but we're optimistic that matchmaker Drew Ingrande can pull a rabbit out of his hat.

Woodson's coach and teammate at the "Den" Andrew Ebers will also be on the card facing Irvin Jones. Ebers, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Keith Robinson, is 3-0 in his MMA career, and if fresh off a first-round stoppage of Jason Russell in February for Midwest Fight League. Facing Ebers is Tennessee's Irvin Jones (2-0). Jones hasn't been super active with only his third MMA fight since turning pro in December of 2017. Irvin has been to a decision twice and will be a stiffer test for Ebers who thus far cruised to three first-round stoppages. There is little known about Jones' ground game, but if Ebers is able to get it to the ground, it'll be a short night for Jones.

Stand-up specialist Drew Gigax will be featured in a kickboxing in the cage match-up against Ghenadie Bitco. Gigax out of Jermaine Andre's Academy is exciting to watch and picked up his second professional kickboxing win over Kevin Brown this past December. Gigax chopped way at Brown, slowing his movement before finally scoring a series of knockdowns to claim victory in the second round. Bitco is a full-contact Tae Kwon Do fighter and is the most accomplished stand-up fighter that Gigax has faced as a pro, having completed in several full-contact tournaments in his career.

Rounding out the pro main card is the professional debut of Josh Augustine out of St. Charles MMA. Augustine will face Brandon Ditterline in a featherweight match-up and is hungry to get his pro career started. The 25-year-old is fresh from a lengthy suspension for extracurricular activities in a pre-fight staredown for a fight in Arkansas. Ditterline lost his pro debut to Thomas Campbell two years ago at Cage of Honor and hasn't been in action since.

The all-amateur undercard is highlighted by a pair of title bouts including Dan Liberson and Evan Whited for the NFA lightweight title. Whited (7-1) had a red-hot 2018 picking up four stoppage wins and will be a tall task for Liberson. Liberson (5-0) has continued to improve and shows tremendous promise in his first five bouts, three of which have been under the NFA banner. Whited comes out guns blazing, and if Liberson can slow down the pace and take Whited into the later rounds his chances start to improve.

In the other NFA title bout, LC Hamid will take on Steven Wilkerson for the flyweight strap. Hamid, now fighting out of Watson Martial Arts, is exciting to watch with his buzzsaw style. The young flyweight has won two in a row since dropping a decision loss to St. Louis' top Amateur Sam Paneitz in September of 2017. Facing Hamid will be Steven Wilkerson out of Kansas. Wilkerson suffered his first loss in October and has been a staple for Kansas City's Ultimate Blue Corner Promotion, having won their title last summer.

You can get tickets for this event by calling 636-575-1767.

Full fight card: (Subject to change.)

Sean Woodson vs TBA
Andrew Ebers vs Irvin Jones
Drew Gigax vs Ghenadie Bitco - K1
Josh Augustine vs Brandon Ditterline

Dan Liberson vs Evan Whited - 155lb Ammy Title
LC Hamid vs Steven Wilkerson - 125lb Ammy Title
Liz Helton vs TBA
Patrick Keao vs Tyler Horton
Jeff Bradshaw vs Alec Champion
Austin Smith vs TBA - Grappling
Bryan Barkau vs Michael Manning
Brendan Wolf vs Trent Gibson
Johnny Buckets vs Anthony Priest - K1
Ian Durst vs Joseph Brown
Hieu Vuu vs Brady Curdt
Malcolm Elzie vs Tim Stockmann
Nathan Biggs vs Nick Meskil
Axe Wildridge vs Daniel Boyer - K1

NFA: Sacrifice and Glory
Saturday, April 13th
Casa Loma Ballroom, St. Louis, MO