Lupita Godinez Goes To War With Vanessa Demopoulos, Wins Strawweight Title At LFA 94

What a fight! We are headed to the 5th and final round! #LFA94 pic.twitter.com/VIcmA3eToT

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) October 31, 2020

Inaugural Legacy Fighting Alliance strawweight champion Crystal Vanessa Demopoulos came up short in her first title defense against Lupita Godinez at LFA 94.

From the opening bell, Godinez (5-0) had a clear advantage on the feet against Demopoulos (5-3). "Loopy" continued landing at will in Round 2 and bloodied up the champion. "Lil Monster" showed tremendous heart as she never stopped coming forward. Godinez would drop Demopoulos in Round 4, but the champ would fire back for her best round of the fight to that point.

Thanks to Kansas using open scoring, it was known that the champion needed a finish if she wanted to retain the belt. Demopoulos hit a takedown mid-round, which gave her a clear path to victory. However, Godinez was able to hang on and reversed position. After five rounds of action, Godinez earned a well-deserved majority decision victory with scores of 49-46, 48-47, and 47-47.

The co-main event saw Joe Giannetti and Aaron McKenzie put on a fun grappling battle. Round 1 saw Giannetti (9-4-1) threaten with submissions for most of the frame, although McKenzie (9-2-1) was able to mount his opponent and inflict damage at the end. With the momentum firmly in McKenzie's favor, the Oklahoma fighter would go on to dominate the second round. Round 3 was more of the same and McKenzie took home a unanimous decision with a trio of 30-27 cards.

Chase Gibson slightly missed weight for his featherweight bout against Thai Clark, but he was fighting with a heavy heart after the loss of his twin brother Cooper Gibson last month. Gibson (10-5) would lock in a D'Arce choke on Clark (8-1) in Round 2 that led to a technical submission stoppage at the 4:18 mark.

Bantamweight Fernando Garcia was fired up for his bout against Ryan Hayes, who missed weight by 2.6 pounds. Despite some solid leg kicks from Hayes (9-7), Garcia (8-1) was able to land the best shots on the feet. As a result, "Fernie" was awarded a split decision victory with two 30-27 scorecards, while Hayes had one 29-28 verdict in his favor.

Osman Diaz made an impressive promotional debut against Logan Woods. A big right hand dropped Woods (3-1) and Diaz (4-1) kept on the pressure to force the referee to end the fight just 1:36 into the bout.

In the opening bout of the main card, Miles Amos took on Jalin Fuller in a middleweight bout. The wrestling of Amos (3-1) looked great in Round 1, but Fuller (4-0) was able to rock "The Black Santa" in the second frame. It was Fuller that had more left in the tank and he was able to sink in a front choke in 1:59 of Round 3.

In preliminary action, Edwin Cooper Jr. (3-1) won a unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27) over Ethyn Ewing (0-1), and Lovethpatra Young (2-1-1) knocked out Reena Norville (0-1) in just 2:16.