The Nigerian takeover of the UFC is far, far from over, LFA’s Loveth Young assures the MMA world.
Young, 3-1-1, made her professional debut in 2018. Being relatively late to the game, she had her work cut out for her if she wanted to make a big enough splash to be seen by the UFC, and that she did.
In only her third professional bout, Young would make her LFA debut and take on future UFC fighter Vanessa Demopoulos. Young would lose by decision, but while losing isn’t great, she proved that night that it would take UFC-level talent to beat her.
Young has since gone 2-0 with finishes in her next two fights under the LFA banner.
On this episode of #InsideLFA, @RKruck previews #LFA125! Every LFA #strawweight champion has gone on to sign with the #UFC and the promotion will crown its next divisional queen when it makes its debut in #NewYork! ?
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She has a goal in mind that she might be one solid win away from and, according to her, it’s the Nigerian in her that’s driven her to the point she’s at now.
“I have been a fan of the UFC from when I heard about my big brothers Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya,” Young said. “Every day, I keep praying to God, I want to be the next Nigerian champ the UFC will produce.”
The marriage to fighting and the marriage to a singular focus goes far beyond Young, Usman and Adesanya, she explains. The MMA spotlight shifting to Africa is going to usher in a whole world of talented, hungry fighters.
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“Every Nigerian has a dream and has ambition,” Young said. “We train, we become champions. When I was a child, we had to walk many miles to train at the gym. We want to pursue that dream we promised ourselves while training back home.”
Despite not being in the UFC yet, at 32 years old, Young has a plan to stay busier than any fighter in the history of the sport to climb to the top of the MMA world.
“When I get into the UFC I want to stay busy,” Young said. “I want to fight every month. It’s my career. If the dream comes true that I fight every month, with my talent, in less than two years I should be a UFC champion.”
Who knows when the UFC will finally make the trip to Africa, but the plan that was being taken very seriously pre-pandemic is far from the back of the mind for the UFC, as stated by President Dana White in a recent post-fight press conference. According to Young, the second the UFC cameras are live, the world will be exposed to a whole flock of fighters ready to take over every division.
If all goes according to plan at LFA 125, she just may be there to see it all happen.
“UFC needs to come to Africa, mostly Nigeria,” Young said. “We have a bunch of talent. I wish I had the opportunity to bring them all over to compete here. They are so good. Nigeria has a bunch of talent, whether it’s boxing, kickboxing or MMA, those guys are good.”
Catch the return of Loveth Young at LFA 125 LIVE, Friday, February 25, ONLY on UFC FIGHT PASS!
