Olympic Bronze Medalist & Top Flyweight Contender Alexis Vila Returns to the MMA Cage at CFA 09

Olympic Bronze Medalist & Top Flyweight Contender Alexis Vila
Returns to the MMA Cage at CFA 09

January 8, 2013
PRESS RELEASE (Miami, FL)- Alexis “The Exorcist” Vila (11-2) returns to the MMA cage in a comain event flyweight title fight vs #3 World Ranked Josh “The Gremlin” Sampo (8-2). This is Vila’s first fight after suffering two disappointing losses in the Bellator Bantamweight Tournament earlier last year. Championship Fighting Alliance (CFA) will be hosting the fight in CFA 09: “Night of Champions,” scheduled for next Saturday, January 19th, 2013 at the Bank United Center in Coral Gables, FL. The event will feature four title fights in the Flyweight, Featherweight, Lightweight and Welterweight categories.

The fight is considered the come back fight for 1996 Olympic Bronze Medalist Alexis Vila of
American Top Team. Vila, a top ranked flyweight, competed in Bellator’s bantamweight tournament making it to the finals. His 1:04 1st round knock out of Bellator’s Joe Warrren sent shockwaves throughout the industry. Making a move back down to flyweight, Vila will face #3 ranked Flyweight Joshua Sampo. Sampo, of St. Charles MMA and Rodrigo Vahgi Jiu-Jitsu, is coming off a victory against WEC, UFC and Dream Veteran Antonio Banuelos (20-9). An upset over Sampo could put Vila back on the map as a flyweight contender and give him a potential shoe-in to the coveted UFC.

“I decided to move back down to flyweight because it is a more natural fit for me,” said Vila. “I only moved to Bantamweight to try to further my career and get into the UFC, but now that they have a flyweight division staying at Bantamweight doesn’t make sense.”

Prior to his move to Bantamweight, Vila was arguably the top ranked flyweight in the world. MMA fans and industry personnel alike are anxious to see the outcome of this fight as a win by Vila will place him back in flyweight contention. The big question: Will the UFC take notice?

“I feel I am unbeatable at flyweight,” indicated Vila. “I know I would run through the guys in the UFC. Many of them have been ducking out of fights with me for years. I want my chance to prove I am the best and the only way to do that is for the UFC to sign me and then they will be forced to fight me.”

“I’ve been training hard for almost a year waiting for this opportunity. I will walk away with that belt around my waist,” said Vila.

The night’s events will feature a title fight line up including:
Main Event Lightweight Title Fight: Luis “Baboon” Palomino (20-7; 4-0 CFA) vs Luiz “Buscape” Firmino (15-6; 2-0 CFA)
Co-Main Event Flyweight Title Fight: Alexis “The Exorcist” Vila (11-2; 0-0 CFA) vs Josh “The Gremlin” Sampo (8-2; 0-0 CFA)
Welterweight Title Fight: Valdir “BBMonster” Araujo (11-3; 3-0 CFA) vs Marcelo “Grilo” Alfaya (14-6; 1-0 CFA)
Interim Featherweight Title Fight: Victor “Showtime” Delgado (6-0; 3-0 CFA) vs Sean Soriano (6-0;1-0 CFA)

The preliminary card lineup will feature:
Patrick “Lights Out” Cenoble (9-1; 3-1 CFA) vs Elvin Prito (5-1)
Pablo “The Hurricane” Alfonso (7-5; 1-1 CFA) vs Shah Bobonis (15-7)
Haender “Cubita” Rodriguez (6-6; 0-1 CFA) vs Tulio Quintanilla (5-3; 0-1 CFA)
Yosdenis “Pink Panther” Cedeno (6-2; 0-2 CFA) vs Ryan “No Love” DeRocher (4-4; 0-1 CFA)
Charles Rosa (1-0; 0-0 CFA) vs Lucas Jackson (0-0)
Billy Garris (1-0; 0-0 CFA) vs Carl “The Doctor” Darbouze (1-0; 0-0 CFA)
Carlos Rodriguez (0-0) vs Jean Bellefleur (0-0)
Alex Poulson (2-0; 1-0 CFA) vs Jose “Fresh Prince” Caceres (3-2; 0-2 CFA)
Mike “Dragonhulk” Trujillo (4-2; 2-1 CFA) vs Trent McCown (5-1; 2-1 CFA)

Vila’s fight for CFA 09: “Night of Champions” will take place January 19th, 2013 at the Bank United Center, 1245 Dauer Drive, Coral Gables, FL. Tickets start at $25.00 and can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com or at www.cfafights.com. For VIP table seating please contact the CFA offices at (305) 520-5574. Follow Alexis Vila on Facebook @AlexisVila or on Twitter @alexis_vila135.

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