While for many 2020 was quite possibly one of the worst years of their careers, for some fighters the year presented opportunities and ended up being highly beneficial to them. Among those for whom 2020 was more advantageous is bantamweight Christian Natividad.
In 2020 Natividad made his pro MMA debut in in July with a first round TKO of Michael Aquila at LFA 85, then followed that up with a 30-second stoppage of Jose Holguin at LFA 92 in October.
“It was honestly the best year of my life,” Natividad told MMAWeekly.com. “There were so many things that happened in my life.
“I became a professional athlete. I made my debut with the LFA and had two match-ups for them, and was nominated for Knockout of the Year and Fighter of the Year. I also got promoted three times in the company I work for.”
Victor Altamirano (8-1) vs. Nate Smith (6-1)
The Legacy Fighting Alliance celebrates its 100th show on Friday evening. The top UFC feeder league has provided countless prospects to the big show, and flyweight headliners Victor Altamirano and Nate Smith hope to add their names to that list in the near future.
Mexico’s Altamirano has been a fixture in the LFA since even before his 2017 pro debut. The 30-year-old actually made one of his amateur appearances at the very first LFA show. As a pro, his only loss came in his one venture outside of the LFA. Altamirano fought top strawweight and UFC veteran Jarred Brooks in a 2019 flyweight affair under the Warrior Xtreme Cagefighting banner and suffered a submission loss via rear-naked choke. The loss to Brooks snapped a six-fight winning streak, but “El Magnifico” returned to his winning ways with two more victories inside the LFA. He most recently tapped Lloyd McKinney at LFA 95. His fight with Smith comes on short notice, as he was