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 September 28

5:30am: Julius Long vs. Lucas Browne/Deece McDonald vs. Luke Travers ($14.95 Epicentre.tv)
12:00pm: M-1 Challenge 97 Prelims (FREE Fite.tv)
1:00pm: Callum Smith vs. George Groves (DAZN)
1:30pm: M-1 Challenge 97 ($7.99 Fite.tv)
6:30pm: Fight To Win Pro 87 (FloGrappling)
7:30pm: Top Rank on ESPN Prelims (ESPN+)
8:00pm: RISE Submission Invitational 5 (FloGrappling)
9:00pm: Unified MMA 34 ($19.99 Fite.tv)
10:00pm: Legacy Fighting Alliance 51 (AXS)
10:00pm: Devin Haney vs. Juan Carlos Burgos/Thomas Mattice vs. Zhora Hamazaryan (Showtime)
10:30pm: Alejandro Santiago Barrios vs. Jerwin Ancajas/Ezequiel Maderna vs. Jose Uzcategui (ESPN+)

 

Saturday September 29

5:00am: MAX Muay Thai (Facebook)
7:00am: World Lethwei Championship: Heartless Tigers ($9.99 Fite.tv)
7:20am: The Champion Muay Thai (YouTube)
9:30am: Kumite 1 League (FREE Fite.tv)
12:00pm: King of Kings 38 Her’s World Series ($4.99 Fite.tv)
12:00pm: GNX Series ($9.99 Fite.tv)
1:00pm: Glory 59 Superfight Series (UFC Fight Pass)
1:30pm: Ansgar Fighting League 16 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
1:30pm: Contenders 24 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
2:00pm: Mix Fight Gala 38 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
3:00pm: Glory 59 (ESPN3)
4:00pm: Cage Warriors 97 (UFC Fight Pass)
7:00pm: Dead Serious MMA 31 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
7:00pm: Elite Amateur Fight League: Hendo’s Fight Night ($14.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: Bellator 206 Prelims (Bellator.com)
8:00pm: Eddie Bravo Invitational 17 (UFC Fight Pass)
8:00pm: Mountain Force MMA 5 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
9:00pm: Rumble in the Cage 59 ($16.99 Fite.tv)
9:00pm: Abner Cotto vs. Jorge Linares/Oscar Duarte vs. Roger Gutierrez (Facebook Live)
10:00pm: Bellator 206 (DAZN)
11:30pm: Xtreme Fight Night 352 (UFC Fight Pass)

 

Sunday September 30

2:00am: RIZIN 13 ($19.99 Fite.tv)
5:00am: MAX Muay Thai (Facebook)
7:20am: MAX Muay Thai (YouTube)
7:30pm: PBC on FOX Prelims (Fox Sports 1)
9:00pm: Brandon Figueroa vs. Oscar Escandon/Ege Ajagba vs. Nick Jones (Fox Sports 1)

 

Top-10 Viewing Options: Enjoy your last week of fights before the McGregor circus invades your life nonstop.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  1. Glory 59: King Rico returns to his throne. Add a featherweight unification and a solid undercard, and this is a no-brainer, especially in the afternoon.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  2. Bellator 206: Rampage vs. Wanderlei has absolutely no interest to me, but Lima-Koreshkov and Rory-Gegard more than make up for it.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  3. Callum Smith vs. George Groves: The finals of the incredibly fun and successful World Boxing Super Series: Super Middleweight Edition!

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  4. RIZIN 13: Not as star-studded or varied as their usual cards, but it’s freaking Tenshin vs. Horiguchi. Plus, there’s a lot of Kid Yamamoto’s fingerprints on many of these fighters, he was a trainer to many and this will be an emotional one, for sure.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  5. Eddie Bravo Invitational 17: And now it’s the middleweights turn to get on the mats and combat jiu-jitsu people about the torso region.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  6. Alejandro Santiago Barrios vs. Jerwin Ancajas/Ezequiel Maderna vs. Jose Uzcategui: World title fight on an ESPN+ for the second week in a row. I’ll take that, they’re coming strong. And they’ll need to, with DAZN in the mix now. Only so many dollars to go around.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  7. Abner Cotto vs. Jorge Linares/Oscar Duarte vs. Roger Gutierrez: Pretty clearly a bounceback fight for Linares after his war with Lomachenko, but still, a fighter of Jorge Linares’s caliber on Facebook Live is pretty great for a boxing fan.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  8. Cage Warriors 97: Who will be next on the Cage Warriors hype wagon? It’s usually someone, and it’s no longer Paddy Pimblett, so who will it be?

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  9. RISE Submission Invitational 5: ‘Tis the weekend of middleweight grappling tournaments, it would appear.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  10. Legacy Fighting Alliance 51: Bit of a down week for LFA, but when you’re cranking out cards like they do, it’s understandable.

 

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. Light Heavyweight Bout: Michael Duut (42-10-1) vs. Mourad Bouzidi (72-24-3) [Glory 59]

4. Heavyweight Bout: D’Angelo Marshall (29-5-1) vs. Jamal Ben Saddik (32-8) [Glory 59]

3. Flyweight Bout: Kyoji Horiguchi (0-0) vs. Tenshin Nasukawa (27-0) [RIZIN 13]

2. Glory Featherweight Championship Unification Bout: Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (ic) (157-36-2) vs. Robin van Roosmalen (c) (51-17) [Glory 59]

1. Glory Heavyweight Championship: Rico Verhoeven (c) (54-10) vs. Guto Inocente (35-8) [Glory 59]

 

BOXING

5. Featherweight Bout: Brandon Figueroa (16-0) vs. Oscar Escandon (25-4) [Premier Boxing Champions on FS1]

4. Junior Welterweight Bout: Abner Cotto (23-3) vs. Jorge Linares (44-4) [Golden Boy on Facebook Live]

3. Light Heavyweight Bout: Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna (26-4) vs. Jose Uzcategui (27-2) [Top Rank on ESPN+]

2. IBF World Junior Bantamweight Championship: Jerwin Ancajas (c) (30-1-1) vs. Alejandro Santiago Barrios (16-2-4) [Top Rank on ESPN+]

1. WBC Diamond Middleweight Championship/WBA Super World Super Middleweight Championship: Callum Smith (c) (24-0) vs. George Groves (c) (28-3) [World Boxing Super Series]

 

MMA

5. Featherweight Bout: Aaron Pico (3-1) vs. Leandro Higo (18-4) [Bellator 206]

4. 130lb Catchweight Bout: Kai Asakura (10-1) vs. Topnoi Tiger Muaythai (6-1) [RIZIN 13]

3. Strawweight Bout: Haruo Ochi (17-7-2) vs. Mitsuhisa Sunabe (29-7-4) [RIZIN 13]

2. Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Andrey Koreshkov (21-2) vs. Douglas Lima (29-7) [Bellator 206]

1. Bellator Middleweight Championship: Gegard Mousasi (c) (44-6-2) vs. Rory MacDonald (20-4) [Bellator 206]

 

GRAPPLING/WRESTLING

5. Masters Black Belt Heavyweight Championship: Alan Shebaro vs. Alexandro Ceconi [Fight To Win Pro 87]

4. 170lb Bout: Matheus Lutes vs. Nick Ronan [Rise Submission Invitational 5]

3. Female Featherweight Black Belt No-Gi Championship: Ana Carolina Viera (c) vs. Chelsah Lyons [Fight To Win Pro 87]

2. EBI Rules Middleweight Tournament [Rise Submission Invitational 5]

1. Middleweight Combat Jiu-Jitsu Tournament [Eddie Bravo Invitational 17]

 

Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: A man who netted a SOLID buck-thirty last week attempts to persuade you to follow him to the promised land.

 

Best Fight of the Weekend: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Tenshin Nasukawa
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: Andrey Koreshkov vs. Douglas Lima
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Lucas Browne over Julius Long
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: Glory 59
Upset of the Week: Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao over Robin van Roosmalen
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Rampage Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva

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