Luis Aguiar captured the Jungle Fight flyweight championship in 2024 and hoped that it would lead him to one of the Dana White’s Contender Series cards in the following year. When that didn’t happen, he set
out to collect more belts to make that destiny inevitable.
The Pitbull Brothers product faces fellow Brazilian flyweight prospect Marcos Degli for his interim title in the main event of LFA 225, which goes down Friday night in Brasilia, to determine Brazil’s best up-and-comer at flyweight and, in Aguiar’s mind, finally punch his ticket to the UFC.
“I’m very happy to be fighting for the LFA belt,” Aguiar told MMA Fighting. “It’s the biggest organization outside the UFC, basically. It’s one of the main gateways [to the UFC] and I’m extremely happy to be there, fighting for the title and having the opportunity to keep moving forward in my career. Like you said, we’ve already won some regional belts and we keep climbing the ladder. God willing, we’ll get to the UFC.”
Aguiar said he’s had “contractual issues” — but “no bad blood” — with Jungle Fight and that was why he opted not to continue with the promotion after winning the title in 2024. Instead, he “waited for the Contender Series window and it ended up not happening, then we kept moving forward and this LFA opportunity came up.”
Aguiar is riding a seven-fight win streak with a 100 percent finishing rate, and Degli enters the cage Friday night with 11 victories in a row and 10 stoppages, finishing both of his latest opponents in LFA title bouts in 2025.
“He’s a very tough athlete, we’re training hard for this, and for sure we’re going to put on a show,” Aguiar said. “I believe that both he and I are already on the UFC’s radar today. Because of LFA’s connection with the UFC, I believe he would be the first one to be called from Brazil, let’s say, so we’re going to fight for that first spot. Whoever wins will probably get called to the Contender Series or straight to the UFC.”
Aguiar wouldn’t say this is the biggest and most important fight of his career because “everything is a process” and every single match up until this point has built a reputation to earn him a shot at a belt.
That doesn’t mean, however, that he respects “Tailandes” as a top opposition.
Degli trains alongside the likes of Carlos Prates at Vale Top Team and already expected to be in the UFC by now. Aguiar plans to steal his spot with a victory on Friday, and hopes it’s not a five-round decision.
“I believe we just have to do the work, and the work is being done,” Aguiar said. “He’s a dangerous guy, has heavy hands. He’s not someone you can play around with or underestimate. He’s a guy who needs to be respected, and respect comes through training. When you don’t believe you’re going to fight a tough opponent you end up disrespecting the training, training a little less, getting comfortable. Whenever you fight a tougher guy, you push yourself a little more, demand a little more from yourself for the result to come, and it won’t be any different with him.”
“All of my fights have ended by submission or knockout, and he also has a good percentage of finishes,” he continued. “I believe there’s a good chance it doesn’t go to a decision. We prepare for the worst and hope for the best, right? I’m training to fight five rounds, but I believe there’s a good chance it doesn’t get there.”
