Fighters of the Week

  1. Eleider Alvarez: WELP, that’s probably it for Krusher Kovalev, Eleider Alvarez pulled an absolute shocker by sending the Russian light heavyweight champ to the canvas to the mat before finishing him in spectacular fashion and becoming a world champion.

  2. TJ Dillashaw: Ain’t gonna be no rematch this time. For the second time, he emphatically knocked out Cody Garbrandt, sending the former champ to the drawing board. As long as TJ is the champ, I have no idea what Cody can do to earn another shot.

  3. Tevin Farmer: After starting his career 7-4-1, Farmer fought from the bottom all the way up, only to be robbed in December fighting for his first world title. He got another chance Friday, and this time defeated former world champion Billy Dib to claim the same IBF Junior Lightweight title he was robbed of against Kenichi Ogawa.

  4. Henry Cejudo: I thought part of the new unified rules were to not score takedowns with no damage? At any rate, while many didn’t have it for Henry, he kept it close, and at long last broke the neverending, magical run of Mighty Mouse as champion.

  5. Dmitry Bivol: Dispatched Isaac Chilemba in workmanlike fashion, staying unbeaten and retaining his WBA gold at light heavyweight.

6. Yohan Lidon: Defended his WKN World Super Middleweight championship in France against fellow Glory fighter Yoann Kongolo at Fight Night Saint Tropez 6.

7. Viviane Araujo: After Syuri’s jump to the UFC, Pancrase needed a new Queen of Pancrase in the strawweight division, and Araujo was crowned after a third-round TKO of JMMA women’s legend Emi Fujino at Pancrase 298.

8. Minoru Kimura: New Krush welterweight champion after dethroning Hitoshi Tsukakoshi at Krush 91 at the legendary Korakuen Hall.

9. Nate Andrews: And still CES lightweight champion after a first-round triangle in the main event.

10. Bruce Boyington: Started a RNC on champion Sean Soriano’s back and finished it on the ground, becoming the new CES MMA Featherweight champ on AXS, Friday.

11. Alex Perez: Stopped the freight train that was the Shorty Torres Hype Wagin with a first-round KO, handing him his first loss.

12. Andre Berto: In a final-gasp fight for both men that absolutely should not have been in the main event on freaking FOX, Berto survived a bonus knockdown call to rally and outpoint Devon Alexander. Berto will probably be cannon fodder for a champion welterweight, but at least it should be a decent payday.

13. Natan Schulte/Vinny Magalhaes/Will Brooks/Maxim Grishin/Rashid Magomedov/Chris Wade/Dan Spohn/Thiago Tavares: All earned points for their wins at PFL 5. Most notably was Magalhaes, who finished former Bellator middleweight champion Brandon Halsey in under two minutes.

14. Peter Quillin: Kid Chocolate returned to the ring after nearly a year and earned a win over a damned-solid opponent in J’Leon Love on PBC’s Fox Card.

t15. Roosevelt Roberts/Ian Heinisch/Jordan Griffin/Juan Adams: Earned UFC paperwork after Tuesday’s Contender Series.

t15. Lucas Matthysse: Calling it a career. Thank you for all the battles, Machine.