Your Weekend in Combat Sports

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As always, programming is listed in EST
Live fights are in BOLD.
Premiere programming is in ITALICS.
MMA programming is in ORANGE.
Boxing programming is in RED.
Kickboxing/Muay Thai/Karate programming is in BLUE.
Wrestling/Jiu Jitsu/Grappling programming is in PURPLE.
Misc./Combination combat sports programming is in GREEN.

 

Friday February 16

1:00pm: Absolute Championship Berkut 80 (FREE YouTube/Fite.tv)
3:00pm: Michigan State vs. Clarion (FloWrestling)
7:00pm: Top Rank on ESPN Prelims (ESPN3)
7:00pm: Binghamtom vs. Buffalo (ESPN3)
7:00pm: Bellator 194 Prelims (ParamountNetwork.com)
7:00pm: Titan Fighting Championship 48 (UFC Fight Pass)
7:00pm: Michigan State vs. Eastern Michigan (FloWrestling)
7:00pm: World Class Fight League 20 ($19.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: Kent State vs. Northern Illinois (ESPN3)
8:30pm: Glory 50 Superfight Series (UFC Fight Pass)
9:00pm: Paulus Moses vs. Raymundo Beltran/David Avenesyan vs. Egidijus Kavaliauskas (ESPN)
9:00pm: Legacy Fighting Alliance 33 (AXS)
9:00pm: Bellator 194 (Paramount Network)
9:00pm: South Dakota State vs. North Dakota State (FloWrestling)
9:00pm: Wisconsin vs. Rutgers (FloWrestling)
10:00pm: Air Force vs. Wyoming (FloWrestling)
11:00pm: Glory 50 (ESPN3)

 

Saturday February 17

1:00pm: Contenders 22 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
1:30pm: Polaris Pro Grappling 6 (UFC Fight Pass)
4:00pm: Northern Iowa vs. Missouri (FloWrestling)
5:00pm: World Boxing Super Series: Eubank Jr. vs. Groves (Facebook/YouTube)
6:30pm: UFC Fight Night Weigh-Ins (Fox Sports 1)
7:00pm: XFO 62 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: Devon Alexander vs. Victor Ortiz/Caleb Plant vs. Rogelio Medina (Fox)
8:00pm: Fight To Win Pro 63 (FloGrappling)
9:00pm: Eddie Bravo Invitational 15 (UFC Fight Pass)
9:00pm: Rumble in the Cage 57 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
10:00pm: Brandon Rios vs. Danny Garcia/David Benavidez vs. Ronald Gavril (Showtime)

 

Sunday February 18

2:00pm: Wisconsin vs. Purdue (FloWrestling)
2:00pm: Maryland vs. Rider (FloWrestling)
3:00pm: Michigan vs. Central Michigan (FloWrestling)
3:00pm: Penn State vs. Buffalo (FloWrestling)
4:00pm: Maryland vs. Ohio (FloWrestling)
5:30pm: UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Medeiros Prelims (UFC Fight Pass)
6:00pm: UFC Fight Night Pre-Fight Show (Fox Sports 1)
6:00pm: Fresno State vs. Oklahoma State (FloWrestling)
7:00pm: UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Medeiros Prelims (Fox Sports 1)
9:00pm: UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Medeiros (Fox Sports 1)

 

 

Top-10 Viewing Options: A man who’s finally been able to stick his head out of the ground and see sunlight and past the snow goes back into his hold for a huge three-day weekend of fights.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  1. Glory 50: Glory! It’s been far, far too long. Give me some of that sweet Groenhart punching.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  2. UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Medeiros: I’ve long thought that during the NFL’s offseason, that the UFC should run more cards on Sunday. Even if this is an outlier, I’m happy to see it.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  3. World Boxing Super Series: Eubank Jr. vs. Groves: Good on WBSS for hooking us up a live, free, and high-quality stream.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  4. Brandon Rios vs. Danny Garcia/David Benavidez vs. Ronald Gavril: Far more interested in Benavidez-Gavril after their fantastic first bout, and tremendously disappointed that Brandon Rios is still fighting, and Garcia is still fighting has-beens and never-weres.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  5. Bellator 194: Even if you don’t give a shit about Mitrione-Nelson, which I do not, Pitbull and Heather Hardy still round out a good card.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  6. Polaris Pro Grappling 6: Killer lineup, including Jake Shields grappling just one week after he faced Kit Dale for F2W.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  7. Eddie Bravo Invitational 15: Eddie Cummings returning to defend his 145lb crown after a dominant run at EBI previously.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  8. Titan Fighting Championship 48: Jose Shorty Torres in action! Maybe the best unsigned talent out there and current Titan flyweight and bantamweight champion.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  9. Paulus Moses vs. Raymundo Beltran/David Avenesyan vs. Egidijus Kavaliauskas: Beltran and Moses are a couple of old warriors getting to slug it out for a world title.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  t10. Devon Alexander vs. Victor Ortiz/Caleb Plant vs. Rogelio Medina: Oh my God, PBC. Just when I think Garcia-Rios is the most offensive thing I’ll see on my TV screen on Saturday, you put on Victor Ortiz…and Devon Alexander…ON FOX?! 2010 is gonna love the HELL out of that bout! Good god.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  t10. Absolute Championship Berkut 80: God bless ACB and their strangely-loaded free cards.

 

 

Under The Radar: A few things to keep an eye on away from the headlines.

 

  • 2016 Olympic silver-medalist and super-prospect Shakur Stevenson is fighting Friday on Top Rank’s undercard, which you’ll be able to catch on ESPN3.
  • In the world of female grappling, two of the best in the world go one-on-one Saturday in London as Gezary Matuda takes on Serena Gabrielli for Polaris Pro 6 on UFC Fight Pass.
  • When I say ACB is “strangely loaded”, here’s the kind of motley crew I mean: Takeya Mizugaki, Evgeny Erokhin, Leandro Silva, Tiger Sarnavskiy, Albert Tumenov, and Nah-Shon Burrell, among others. Strange mix.

 

4×5: Every week, UCS’s Luke Irwin will list his Top-5 bouts in each of the four major different combat sports that he’s looking forward to the most, regardless of any conventional criteria, merit, or logic.

 

KICKBOXING/MUAY THAI

5. Welterweight Bout: Malik Watson-Smith (59-23) vs. Richard Abraham (12-5) [Glory 50]

4. Heavyweight Contender Tournament Semifinals: Guto Inocente (34-8) vs. Junior Tafa (18-1) [Glory 50]

3. Heavyweight Contender Tournament Semifinals: Benjamin Adegbuyi (28-5) vs. D’Angelo Marshall (28-4-1) [Glory 50]

2. Glory Lightweight Championship: Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (c) (118-30-5) vs. Christian Baya (60-5-1) [Glory 50]

1. Glory Welterweight Championship: Murthel Groenhart (c) (66-23-3) vs. Harut Grigorian (55-10) [Glory 50]

 

BOXING

5. Super Middleweight Bout: Caleb Plant (16-0) vs. Rogelio Medina (38-8) [Premier Boxing Champions on FOX]

4. Welterweight Bout: Brandon Rios (34-3-1) vs. Danny Garcia (33-1) [Premier Boxing Champions on Showtime]

3. Vacant WBO Lightweight Championship: Paulus Moses (40-3) vs. Raymundo Beltran (34-7-1) [Top Rank on ESPN]

2. WBC World Super Middleweight Championship: David Benavidez (c) (19-0) vs. Ronald Gavril (18-2) [Premier Boxing Champions on Showtime]

1. IBO/WBA World Super Middleweight Championships: Chris Eubank Jr. (c) (26-1) vs. George Groves (27-3) [World Boxing Super Series]

 

MMA

5. Light Heavyweight Bout: Liam McGeary (12-2) vs. Vadim Nemkov (8-2) [Bellator 194]

4. Heavyweight Bout: Derrick Lewis (18-5) vs. Marcin Tybura (16-3) [UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Medeiros]

3. Titan Fighting Championship Flyweight Championship: Jose Torres (c) (6-0) vs. Alberto Orellano (6-2) [Titan Fighting Championship 48]

2. Lightweight Bout: Derek Campos (19-6) vs. Patricky Freire (18-8) [Bellator 194]

1. Welterweight Bout: Donald Cerrone (32-10) vs. Yancy Medeiros (15-4) [UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Medeiros]

 

GRAPPLING/WRESTLING

5. Under 55kg NoGi Bout: Gezary Matuda vs. Serena Gabrielli [Polaris Pro 6]

4. 77kg NoGi Bout: Chris Fishgold vs. Marcin Held [Polaris Pro 6]

3. 80kg NoGi Bout: AJ Agazarm vs. Benson Henderson [Polaris Pro 6]

2. Middleweight NoGi Bout: Craig Jones vs. Jake Shields [Polaris Pro 6]

1. Featherweight Tournament [Eddie Bravo Invitational 15]

 

 

Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: Made your beer money for the week last week, chee-ri-o, let’s do it again.

Best Fight of the Weekend: Donald Cerrone vs. Yancy Medeiros
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: David Benavidez vs. Ronald Gavril
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Shakur Stevenson over Juan Tapia
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: Glory 50
Upset of the Week: George Groves over Chris Eubank Jr.
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Brandon Rios vs. Danny Garcia

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