Meredith to make MMA debut Friday in South Dakota

LARAMIE -- Wyoming's three-time All-American wrestler and Cheyenne native, Bryce Meredith, is set to make his Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) debut Friday night in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

That's not all.

Archie "King" Colgan, a fellow Big XII wrestling champ from UW, is also on the card, fighting in his second MMA match of his young career.

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Meredith will take on Steven Merrill (5-6) in the 135-pound bout, while Colgan (1-0) squares off with Keith Phathaem (2-2-1) in the 170 weight class.

Meredith, 24, who was a runner up for a national title in 2016 and '18, said this transition to mixed martial arts is nothing new for him. He told MMAfighting.com in January this was always the grand plan.

"You’ve got to figure out the right time to do it," Meredith told the website. "When you decide that you want to leave wrestling, or if you want to do both for a little bit and then transition into MMA completely as you get the ball rolling. For me, it’s literally been written in stone my entire life. I have a 12-year-old boxer dog that’s named ‘Rampage.’ So I’ve known it was going to be that way."

Meredith is confident his past experiences on the mat will pay dividends Friday night inside the Sanford Pentagon.

“I’m 5-9, and I’m probably going to fight at 135, so that (makes) me a very long, lengthy 135-pounder with a wrestling background,” Meredith said. “I’ve talked to other people, I’ve rolled with other people, and the way the style goes, my wrestling really favors a fighting style of wrestling."

Colgan defeated Andrew Claborn (elbow) at the 3:49 mark of Round 3 in his first professional fight on March 19. The Denver native went 3-0 as an amateur.

If you want to watch Meredith and Colgan Friday night, LFA 108 will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass, which costs $9.99 per month or $95.99 annually. Meredith's bout will be on UFC Fight Pass, Colgan's can be seen on LFA's Facebook Live.

The event is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. Mountain Time.