Fighters of the Week

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Fighters of the Week 1. Julian Williams: Well, I certainly didn’t see that coming. Julian Williams put on a masterful performance against champion Jarrett Hurd, and even more shocking, the judges actually scored the fight for the underdog! Awesomely, this creates a world of new matchup, as PBC just so happens to have a stacked and stocked roster at 154lbs. Good for J-Rock. His emotion and happiness afterward were awesome to watch.

Fighters of the Week 2. Jessica Andrade: Rose Namajunas was fighting a brilliant fight, clearly ahead, and busting up Jessica Andrade left and right. However, sometimes in the fight game, all it takes is one mistake, and Thug Rose holding onto a submission that she didn’t quite have and should have bailed, but she did not, and alas, dropped on her head like she was a tall, Lithuanian Toshiaki Kawada taking a Misawa German suplex. Andrade stuck to her guns, used her greatest strength….strength to become a world champion.

Fighters of the Week 3. Miguel Berchelt: Well, after Berchelt knocked out Francisco Vargas two and a half years ago, the odds that Vargas would somehow get better at 34 years old, and the odds were right. After six rounds, Berchelt handed Vargas his second career loss, both at his hands.

Fighters of the Week 4. Emanuel Navarrete: Ain’t no fluke. After Navarrete stunned Isaac Dogboe in December, he made damned sure Dogboe wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in the rematch. Navarrete laid a hellacious beating on Dogboe that ended in the final round, but should have ended sooner. Navarette is a legit, bonafide world champion at junior featherweight, and at only 24, he’s a force to be reckoned with.

Fighters of the Week 5. Patricio Freire: Was the fight stopped a little too quickly? Sure, and otherwise Pitbull would be much higher on the list. Nevertheless, he put Chandler in a really bad position and he looked helpless for most of it. He’s now a two-division champion in Bellator after felling maybe the only fighter more-aligned with Bellator than himself.

6. Jordan Burroughs: In the main event of Grapple at the Garden 6, brought Ben Askren out of wrestling mothballs to engage in a true dream matchup and ended up pitching a shutout, 11-0.

7. Douglas Lima: A grateful fight nation rejoices thanks to you, Douglas Lima. Lima advances to the finals of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix after folding MVP like a cheap lawn chair and will face the winner of Rory MacDonald and Nieman Gracie in the finals.

8. Nong-O Gaiyanghadao: Retained his OneFC Muay Thai Bantamweight championship over Japan’s Hiroaki Suzuki in the main event of OneFC: Warriors of Light.

9. Jared Cannonier: At 44, Anderson Silva is a fighter in just about name only, and Cannonier was ruthless and intelligence to go after his legs, which have been his downfall in the past. He landed a perfect inside leg kick to Silva’s knee, and that was a wrap. It was hard to watch, but it was a great gameplan.

10. Petchdam Petchyindee Academy: Is the inaugural OneFC Flyweight Kickboxing champion after a technical decision over Elias Mahmoudi in the co-main event of OneFC: Warriors Of Light.

11. Magomed Magomedkerimov/Ray Cooper III/Sadibou Sy/Handesson Ferreira/Glaico Franca/Chris Curtis/Kayla Harrison/Sarah Kaufman/Bobbi-Jo Dalziel/Roberta Samad: Your first winners from the new season of Professional Fighters League in the men’s welterweight and women’s lightweight divisions, getting points in the standings.

12. Gabriel Arges: Picked up the win in the main event of Fight To Win 112 over Matheus Diniz, taking home a nice Fight of the Night bonus for his efforts, as well.

13. Enrique Tinoco: Pulled off the biggest upset of the weekend at a +1400 clip over Jordan Gill in Nottingham on DAZN, Friday. After the bout, Gill claims he had food poisioning and was having the poops all day. He got felled three times by body shots, but nevertheless, Tinoco did his job. It was also revealed that Gill had a broken hand. Yikes.

14. Tyler Diamond: Handed Jon Neal his first professional loss in the main event of Legacy Fighting Alliance 66 on AXS.

15. AJ McKee: Pat Curran wasn’t exactly game in his bout with McKee, showing little to nothing, but this is a great step up win for McKee who keeps climbing from prospect to title challenger. He’s being built well.

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