Registered sex offender to headline LFA 21 event in Missouri

A heavyweight MMA fighter found guilty of sexual abuse will headline an upcoming regional show in Missouri. 

Kyle Noblitt, a registered sex offender in Missouri, will headline the upcoming Legacy Fighting Alliance event in his home state on Friday, September 1.

According to Springfield Crime Alert (h/t Tim Bissell), the 7-0 heavyweight fighter was arrested in July 2012. Reports later confirmed that he was charged with 4 felonies, including “forcible sodomy - deviate sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion, serious physical injury; attempted forcible rape - attempted sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion; resisting arrest/detention/stop by fleeing—creating a substantial risk of serious Injury/death to any person; and sexual abuse.”

Details regarding Noblitt’s offense can be found on the Missouri Sex Offender’s List (h/t MMA-Today.com)

BloodyElbow’s Tim Bissell reported that Noblitt was “found guilty of two counts of sexual abuse and resisting arrest/detention on August 10th, 2015 and “was sentenced to 7 years of incarceration for sexual abuse and 4 years for resisting arrest.” In July 2016, Noblitt was given a suspended sentence and five years of probation. He also requested to have the GPS tracking device on his ankle removed for MMA training.

Last week, Noblitt spoke to MMAOddsbreaker’s James Lynch about his conviction, where he revealed that he “hated what happened” but that there were “three sides to every story.”

Since being handed a suspended sentence, Noblitt has competed in five professional bouts and won the vast majority by stoppage. He was reportedly considered for the Dana White Contender Series, though UFC officials later confirmed that Noblitt would not be appearing on the show. However, while the UFC has distanced itself from the sex offender, LFA – the product of two regional promotions with ties to the UFC – will allow him to headline their September 1 show.

LFA has not responded to a request for comment.