RFA’s December show in California has a new participant vying for the vacant lightweight title.
The promotion today announced that J.J. Ambrose (21-5) has suffered a training injury, forcing him out of the RFA 21 main event against Mehdi Baghdad (10-3). In his place steps Zach Juusola (10-2).
Algerian Mehdi Baghdad (10-3), currently training at Black House MMA, is known worldwide due to his multicultural appeal and success in MMA and Muay Thai. The WKBC Muay Thai world champion is now a regular training partner of the legendary Anderson Silva and just finished coaching Team Baghdad on the second season of the hit Arab MMA reality show Al Batal, which is currently airing on FOX Movies. In September, Baghdad made an impressive RFA debut with a brutal first round TKO of Evan DeLong at RFA 18 and looks to keep that momentum going in his world title fight.
Juusola, a Minneapolis native, was set to make his RFA debut in March. But two different fights fell through. Now he gets his chance. The Xtreme Couture-based fighter has a two-fight winning streak, including a second-round January TKO win.
RFA 21 takes place Friday, December 5th at the The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California. The entire main card will be televised live and nationwide on AXS TV at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
