Your Weekend in Combat Sports

skysports-anthony-joshua-boxing_4365395

 

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 September 21

7:00am: Asia Fighting Championship 2 (FREE EliteBoxing.tv)
1:00pm: Brave 16 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
1:00pm: MAC Series: Making A Champion South Africa ($7.99 Fite.tv)
5:00pm: UFC Fight Night Weigh-Ins (Fox Sports 2)
6:00pm: TKO 44 (UFC Fight Pass)
7:00pm: Bellator 205 Prelims (Bellator.com)
8:00pm: Cradle of Champions (Showtime)
8:30pm: Ring of Combat 65 (FloCombat)
9:00pm: Legacy Fighting Alliance 50 (AXS)
9:00pm: Bellator 205 (Paramount Network/DAZN)
9:45pm: Jon Fernandez vs. O’Shaquie Foster/Carlos Ramos vs. Irvin Gonzalez (Showtime)
11:00pm: Bergman Aguilar vs. Michael Dutchover/Ivan Gonzalez vs. Mario Hernandez (Facebook)

 

Saturday September 22

5:00am: MAX Muay Thai (Facebook)
7:00am: OneFC: Conquest of Heroes (OneFC App)
9:00am: 2018 Super 32 Early Entry Tournament: Florida (FloWrestling)
1:00pm: Number One Fight Show Season 10 ($9 EliteBoxing.tv)
1:00pm: 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Los Angeles (FloGrappling)
2:00pm: Hard Fighting Championship 15 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
4:30pm: Alexander Povetkin vs. Anthony Joshua (DAZN)
6:30pm: UFC Fight Night: Anders vs. Santos Prelims (UFC Fight Pass)
7:00pm: Anthony Young vs. Donald Ward/Alvin Varmall Jr. vs. Rocky Smith (TheUndercardBoxingApp)
7:30pm: UFC Fight Night Pre-Fight Show (Fox Sports 2)
8:30pm: UFC Fight Night: Anders vs. Santos Prelims (Fox Sports 2)
9:00pm: Fight 2 Win Pro: Subversiv (FloGrappling)
10:30pm: UFC Fight Night: Anders vs. Santos (Fox Sports 1)

 

Sunday September 23

1:00am: UFC Fight Night Post-Fight Show (Fox Sports 1)
5:00am: MAX Muay Thai (Facebook)
7:20am: MAX Muay Thai (YouTube)
4:30pm: King of Mats Los Angeles (FloGrappling)

 

 

Top-10 Viewing Options: A man whose NFL team is falling apart at the seams with petty bullshit and porn star memoirs attempts to distract himself with violence.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  1. Alexander Povetkin vs. Anthony Joshua: We’re in the homestretch to AJ-Wilder now. Maybe. Hopefully. Probably not. But still! Povetkin is a top-five heavyweight and a hell of a matchup.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  2. UFC Fight Night: Anders vs. Santos: Just to show how absolutely snakebit UFC main eventers are, Jimi Manuwa showed up in Brazil, went for a run, and promptly tore his knee to shreds. Of course.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  3. Cradle of Champions: The New York Golden Gloves is one of the most prestigious boxing tournaments in the world, and is the holy grail for young amateur boxers hoping to make a name and a career for themselves. This documentary follows three of them. Think of it as a version of boxing Hoop Dreams.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  4. Fight 2 Win Pro: Subversiv: Team grappling! Yessir, the best camps in the country sending out their best.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  5. Bellator 205: Would have been nice if Bellator could have donated a fight from their huge DAZN debut show next week. Alas, this is what we’re left with.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  6. OneFC: Conquest of Heroes: The main event title rematch is solid, and like most of One cards lately, the muay thai names are better than the MMA names, but a decent card.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  7. King of Mats Los Angeles: Erberth Santos, Tanner Rice, and Jackson Sousa amongst others competing in a good, ol’-fashioned tournament for cash.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  8. Jon Fernandez vs. O’Shaquie Foster/Carlos Ramos vs. Irvin Gonzalez: Worth it to see Jon Fernandez, who is an absolute monster and has finished his last fourteen fights.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  9. Legacy Fighting Alliance 50: Brendan Allen tries for the THIRD time to win the vacant LFA middleweight strap. Come and join me in watching his Sisyphusian undertaking.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  10. 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Los Angeles: ADJJF is usually good with producing big names. Cash prizes will do that.

 

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. Bantamweight Bout: Fabrice Delannon (55-10) vs. Yodpanomrung Jitmuangnon (230-68-2) [OneFC: Conquest of Heroes]

4. 85kg Bout: Maxim Vorovski (29-4-1) vs. Yuri Bessmertny (40-19-2) [World Fighting League Final 8]

3. Featherweight Bout: Anissa Haddaoui (42-3-1) vs. Jorina Baars (44-0-3) [World Fighting League Final 8]

2. Flyweight Bout: Rodtang Jitmuangnon (252-40-10) vs. Sergio Wielzen (46-19-2) [OneFC: Conquest of Heroes]

1. WFL Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal: Andrei Stoica (46-10) vs. Boy Boy Martin (42-6-1) [World Fighting League Final 8]

 

BOXING

5. Featherweight Bout: Carlos Ramos (9-0) vs. Irvin Gonzalez (10-0) [ShoBox]

4. Vacant WBC World Female Junior Flyweight Championship: Esmeralda Moreno (35-10-2) vs. Yesenia Gomez (13-5-3) [Televisa Boxing]

3. WBC Silver Junior Lightweight Championship: Jon Fernandez (c) (16-0) vs. O’Shaquie Foster (13-2) [ShoBox]

2. Lightweight Bout: Luke Campbell (18-2) vs., Yvan Mendy (40-4-1) [SKY Sports Boxing]

1. IBO/IBF/WBA Super/WBO World Heavyweight Championships: Anthony Joshua (c) (21-0) vs. Alexander Povetkin (34-1) [SKY Sports Boxing]

 

MMA

5. Light Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (22-8) vs. Sam Alvey (33-10) [UFC Fight Night: Anders vs. Santos]

4. Featherweight Bout: AJ McKee (11-0) vs. John Teixeira (21-3-2) [Bellator 205]

3. Bantamweight Bout: Andre Ewell (13-4) vs. Renan Barao (34-6) [UFC Fight Night: Anders vs. Santos]

2. OneFC Strawweight Championship: Yoshitaka Naito (c) (13-1) vs. Joshua Pacio (12-2) [OneFC: Conquest of Heroes]

1. Light Heavyweight Bout: Eryk Anders (11-1) vs. Thiago Santos (18-6) [UFC Fight Night: Anders vs. Santos]

 

GRAPPLING/WRESTLING

5. Men’s Black Belt Lightweight Division Tournament [IBJJF Toronto International Open]

4. Men’s Black Belt Middleweight Division Tournament [IBJJF Toronto International Open]

3. Men’s Black Belt Heavyweight Division Tournament [IBJJF Toronto International Open]

2. Heavyweight Tournament [King of Mats: Los Angeles]

1. 5 vs. 5 Tournament [Fight 2 Win Pro: Subversiv]

 

Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: A man who might actually be afford to not eat turkey out of a can for Thanksgiving if he can keep his hot streak going attempts to keep on keeping on.

 

Best Fight of the Weekend: Alexander Povetkin vs. Anthony Joshua
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: Jon Fernandez vs. O’Shaquie Foster
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Panya Pradabsri over Stevanus Nana Bau
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: Fight 2 Win: Subversiv
Upset of the Week: Andre Ewell over Renan Barao
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Eryk Anders vs. Thiago Santos

Arrow to top