UFC Night headlines Lights FC promotions this month

By Jesse Granger

Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018 | 2 a.m.

UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin and fighters Joseph Benavidez and Claudia Gadelha will be at Cashman Field later this month for a Las Vegas Lights FC game as part of the team’s August promotions.

The Lights will have special promotions for every home game in August, highlighted by UFC Night on Aug. 18, when they host Phoenix Rising at 8 p.m.

Griffin, Benavidez and Gadelha will meet fans and sign autographs in the tailgate area outside the stadium before the game, and will take part in a special halftime event. Griffin, who is retired, won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter and went on to win the light heavyweight title over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in 2008.

Benavidez is currently the No. 3-ranked flyweight in the world and has won nine of his last 11 fights. Gadelha is the No. 3-ranked women’s strawweight and fought for the title as recently as 2006.

Lights players recently visited the UFC’s performance institute, going through two hours of training led by Griffin.

“I’m looking for fun things to do with the guys,” Lights owner Brett Lashbrook said. “We brought the whole team down there to train at the institute, and the guys loved it. They had a great time.”

Now, UFC fighters are going out to Cashman Field to take in the soccer action.

The Lights will also also be putting on a fireworks show at all three home games in August. Fireworks will go off before and after the game, as well as after every Lights goal.

“Why not do it only after the game like most teams? Because we’re different,” Lashbrook said. “If you lose the game, it’s anticlimactic.”

August will also feature the Lights’ new Ticket and Grub combos, with a $10 food voucher coming with the purchase of four or more tickets before match day.

The summer festivities begin with a Back to School Night on Saturday as the Lights take on the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros at 8 p.m. The first 2,000 kids under age 12 in attendance will receive free Lights backpacks.

“We’ve had a tremendous reception the first half of the season, but our goal is for everyone in Las Vegas to give us a shot,” Lashbrook said. “We want to give people every reason to come see a game and see how much fun it is. We know that if we can get them to come once, we can get them to come twice or three times.”