Bryce Logan Outpoints Jacob Rosales, Nabs Vacant LFA Lightweight Championship

Bryce Logan threw hands with a madman for 25 minutes and exited the cage none the worse for wear.

A devastating jab, effective counters and intermittent leg kicks spurred the Fight Ready export to a unanimous decision over Jacob Rosales, as he captured the vacant Legacy Fighting Alliance lightweight championship in the LFA 87 headliner on Friday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Logan (12-4, 4-0 LFA) was awarded 48-47 marks on all three scorecards.

Rosales (12-6, 1-1 LFA) pressed the issue from the start and moved forward with no regard for his physical well-being. The approach proved costly. In the second round, Logan connected with a jab that appeared to break the CSW standout’s nose. Blood spatter covered the cage as Rosales resumed his march with a maniacal zest. Logan’s feet kept him out of danger, allowed him to outmaneuver Californian and paved his way to victory. Rosales made significant gains in the fifth round, only to see his advances cut off by a takedown attempt and clinch that burned the remaining time off the clock.

In the lightweight co-main event, Nick Browne outstruck former King of the Cage champion Ben Egli across three rounds and survived a few harrowing ground exchanges to pocket a unanimous decision. All three cageside judges scored it for Browne (10-1, 2-0 LFA): 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.

Body-head combinations, sneaky kicks and multiple takedowns carried Browne to the finish line. He peaked in the middle stanza, where he struck for a pair of takedowns and climbed to full mount twice against his fellow Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Egli (12-4, 0-1 LFA) refused to go away. He fought through fatigue, paid no mind to the deficit with which he was faced and threatened Browne with various submissions in Round 3. Included among them were two armbars, one of them in the final 10 seconds of the fight. Those efforts went unrewarded.

Browne, 30, will carry a three-fight winning streak into his next outing.

Meanwhile, Joaquin Buckley avenged a November 2016 defeat under the Bellator MMA banner and wiped out Jackie Gosh with punches in the second round of their middleweight showcase. Gosh (8-3, 0-1 LFA) bowed out 1:47 into Round 2.

Buckley (10-2, 2-0 LFA) denied takedowns, withstood wild flurries from the CSW rep and moved forward behind power punches. The burden was too much for Gosh to bear. Buckley unleashed shots to the body and head in the second round, knocked his counterpart off-balance with a straight left and backed him into the fence, where he connected with a left hook-right hook combination that drew their rematch to a close.

The 26-year-old Buckley has won four of his past five bouts, a decision defeat to the undefeated Logan Storley his only misstep.

In other action, Kai Kamaka III (7-2, 1-0 LFA) laid claim to a unanimous decision over Michael Stack (4-1, 1-1 LFA) in a three-round featherweight confrontation, sweeping the scorecards with 29-28 marks from all three judges; Gerald Scott (4-0, 1-0 LFA) put away Keith Phathaem (2-2-1, 0-2-0 LFA) with punches 4:33 into the second round of their lightweight affair; Zac Pauga (1-0, 1-0 LFA) took a unanimous decision from Zac Cavender (3-2, 0-2 LFA) in a three-round light heavyweight tilt, earning 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 scores from the judges; and Ryan Charlebois (2-0, 1-0 LFA) knocked out Andrew Lipp (1-3, 0-2 LFA) with a left hook 3:37 into the first round of their welterweight scrap.