Fighters of the Week

1. Saul Alvarez: It wasn’t a blistering performance like against GGG, but it was efficient, and he claimed his third world title. The last remaining one, the WBO, remains with Demetrius Andrade.

2. Jerwin Ancajas: And still IBF Junior Bantamweight champ after a vicious seventh-round knockout of late-blooming veteran Ryuichi Funai.

3. Artur Beterbiev: The ESPN card wasn’t fucking around, as they say. The top four fights all ended in KOs and Beterbiev was no exception, flattening hopelessly overmatched Radivoje Kalajdzic in the fifth, retaining his IBF World Light Heavyweight strap.

4. Donald Cerrone: Now with Dad Focus! Since becoming a new father, Cerrone is 3-0 and looks like a brand new man and fighter. Relaxed, tactical, and incredibly efficient. He made Al Iaquinta look absolutely harmless and he’s on one hell of a run right now.

5. Brianna Van Buren: Van Buren was 5-2 and 1-1 in Invicta when their one-night tournament started. After Friday, she’s the Invicta strawweight champion, defeating three women, two by submission, and the one she couldn’t submit was Juliana Lima, who had as many fights in the UFC as Van Buren had in her entire pro career. This was a shocker and she wouldn’t have been my fourth or fifth-choice to win. Goddamn, I love tournaments.

6. Jonathan Haggerty: In just his sixteenth professional fight, Haggerty defeated Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, of over four-hundred professional fights and who hasn’t lost since 2015, to win the OneFC Muay Thai Flyweight championship.

7. Derek Brunson: Back in the win column, which he desperately needed, after being finished by two of the most dangerous middleweights anywhere, Jacare Souza and Israel Adesanya, following a UD win over Elias Theodorou in the co-main of UFC’s ESPN+ card from Ottawa.

8. Brent Primus: In the second of Bellator’s European Series cards, from Birmingham, Primus threw on a gogoplata to earn a first-round win over Tim Wilde in the main event.

9. John Ryder: Stepped in on short notice for David Lemieux against Bilal Akkawy and quickly dispatched him in the third-round, handing Akkawy his first career loss and taking the interim WBA title at 168lbs for his trouble.

10. Erberth Santos: Is the new Fight To Win Black Belt Heavyweight champ after a decision in the main event of Fight To Win Pro 111.

11. Brandon Royval: In the main event of Legacy Fighting Alliance 65, Royval submitted Joby Sanchez with an armbar in the first round. If you’re a flyweight, this could be a fool’s errand, but as of now, the UFC still has a 125-lb class.

12. Nordin Ben Moh: That’s 86-7 now for the Morrocan after a decision win over Abdelnour Ali Kada in the main event of Enfusion Live 84.

13. Catherine Fuhro Perret: Is the new Fight To Win Black Belt Women’s Bantamweight champ after a decision win over Kristin Mikkelson. in the co-main event of Fight To Win Pro 111

14. Anthony Young: Pulled off the biggest upset of the weekend, flooring Sadam Ali as a +700 underdog on the DAZN card.

15. Kiamrian Abbasov: That’s how you make a name for yourself, you flatten a UFC title challenger, as Abbasov did to Yushin Okami in the co-main of OneFC’s card.