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 May 17

5:00am: OneFC: Enter The Dragon Prelims (Facebook/Twitter)
7:00am: Thunderdome 30 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
8:00am: OneFC: Enter The Dragon (OneFC App)
10:00am: 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament (FloWrestling)
11:00am: 2019 U.S. Beach Wrestling Championships (FloWrestling)
11:30am: Glory 65 Prelims (UFC Fight Pass)
1:00pm: Glory 65 Superfight Series (UFC Fight Pass)
3:00pm: Jelbirt Gomera vs. Ryan Burnett/Declan Geraghty vs. Marco McCullough (ESPN+)
3:00pm: Glory 65 (UFC Fight Pass)
5:00pm: UFC Fight Night Pre-Fight Show (ESPN+)
8:00pm: AKA Rite of Passage 7 (FloCombat)
8:00pm: BYB Extreme: Brawl For It All ($9.99 Fite.tv)
8:30pm: Broadway Boxing: Edwards vs. Williams (UFC Fight Pass)
9:00pm: Cage Fury Fighting Championship 74 (UFC Fight Pass)

Saturday May 18

4:00am: David Light vs. Mark Flanagan/Mose Auimatagi Jr. vs. Ratu Dawai ($14.95 Epicentre.tv)
5:00am: Road Fighting Championship 53 (DAZN)
10:00am: 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament (FloWrestling)
10:00am: 2019 Pop & Flo National Duals (FloWrestling)
1:00pm: KSW 49 (DAZN/$11.99 Fite.tv)
1:00pm: Number One Fight Show Season 11 ($10 EliteBoxing.tv)
1:00pm: Freiburger Champions Fight Night ($9.99 Fite.tv)
1:30pm: Ansgar Fighting League MMA 20 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
1:30pm: Contenders 26 ($17.99 Fite.tv)
2:30pm: Billy Joe Saunders vs. Shefat Isufi/Ashley Lane vs. Brad Foster (ESPN+)
2:30pm: Ivan Baranchyk vs. Josh Taylor/Emmanuel Rodriguez vs. Naoya Inoue (DAZN)
5:00pm: UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee Prelims (ESPN+)
6:00pm: UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee Prelims (ESPN+)
6:00pm: Valor Fighting Challenge 59 (FloCombat)
6:00pm: Wiedemann’s Beer Boxing Championship: Ohio vs. Georgia ($9.99 Fite.tv)
6:30pm: Showtime Championship Boxing Prelims (Facebook)
7:30pm: Premier MMA Championship 12 ($19.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee (ESPN+)
8:00pm: Fight To Win 113 (FloGrappling)
8:00pm: Fusion Fight League: Rumble Under the Rims ($14.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: Mayhem In May Pro Boxing ($19.99 Fite.tv)
9:00pm: Deontay Wilder vs. Dominic Breazeale/Gary Russell Jr. vs. Kiko Martinez (Showtime)
9:00pm: Mountain Force Kickboxing 3 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
11:00pm: UFC Fight Night Post-Fight Show (ESPN+)

 

Sunday May 19

1:00am: Absolute Muay Thai (UFC Fight Pass)
10:00am: 2019 Pop & Flo National Duals (FloWrestling)

 

Top-10 Viewing Options: A man in the depths of Brook Lopez Fever has an eye on the Bucks and on eye on an absolutel murderer’s row of fights this weekend.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 1. Ivan Baranchyk vs. Josh Taylor/Emmanuel Rodriguez vs. Naoya Inoue: The World Boxing Super Series rolls on! I absolutely love both of these matchups, and Naoya Inoue is must-see TV.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 2. OneFC: Enter The Dragon: The most loaded card of the weekend by far, but as with all Asian cards, the viewing time knocks it down a notch.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 3. UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee: OLIVEIRA VS. LENTZ III: THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 4. Deontay Wilder vs. Dominic Breazeale/Gary Russell Jr. vs. Kiko Martinez: Two gross mismatches. Thanks, WBC. Still, Wilder on premium cable is cool. GIVE DILLIAN WHYTE HIS CHANCE!

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 5. Glory 65: Goes to show what kind of weekend that is when a Glory card with a title fight doubleheader comes in fifth.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 6. Billy Joe Saunders vs. Shefat Isufi/Ashley Lane vs. Brad Foster: Shefat Isufi, Charles Adamu, David Lemieux, Willie Monroe Jr., Artur Akavov, Andy Lee, Yoann Bloyer. Those will have been Billy Joe Saunders’s last seven opponents. One (1) is a world-championship level fighter. No Golovkin, no Canelo, no Jacobs. Not even close. And now he’s a super middleweight, avoiding them completely. Good god.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 7. Jelbirt Gomera vs. Ryan Burnett/Declan Geraghty vs. Marco McCullough: Solid afternoon UK ESPN+ fare.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 8. Fight To Win 113: Lackluster F2W offering, but it’s a lacking weekend in grappling to say the least.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 9. 2019 U.S. Beach Wrestling Championships: HOMOEROTIC?! NO MORE SO THAN ME RUBBING OLIVE OIL ON THIS CUCUMBER!

Your Weekend in Combat Sports 10. Wiedemann’s Beer Boxing Championship: Ohio vs. Georgia: Look at those words in that title. I love every word, and then Georgia takes on the Florida of the north!

 

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. OneFC Featherweight Kickboxing Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Samy Sana (132-7) vs. Yodsanklai Fairtex (202-71-4) [OneFC: Enter The Dragon]

4. Glory Lightweight Championship: Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong (c) (137-17-2) vs. Marat Grigorian (56-11-1) [Glory 65]

3. Glory Middleweight Championship: Alex Pereira (c) (39-6) vs. Jason Wilnis (31-9-1) [Glory 65]

2. OneFC Featherweight Kickboxing Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Giorgio Petrosyan (90-2-2) vs. Phetmorakot Petchyindee Academy (158-34-2) [OneFC: Enter The Dragon]

1. Vacant OneFC Lightweight Kickboxing Championship: Nieky Holzken (92-14) vs. Regian Eersel (53-4) [OneFC: Enter The Dragon]

 

BOXING

5. Heavyweight Bout: Alexander Ustinov (34-3) vs. Joe Joyce (8-0) [Queensberry Promotions on ESPN+]

4. Vacant WBO World Super Middleweight Championship: Billy Joe Saunders (27-0) vs. Shefat Isufi (27-3-2) [Queensberry Promotions on ESPN+]

3. IBF World Junior Welterweight/WBC Silver Junior Welterweight Championships/World Boxing Super Series Semifinals: Ivan Baranchyk (c) (19-0) vs. Josh Taylor (c) (14-0) [World Boxing Super Series]

2. WBC World Heavyweight Championship: Deontay Wilder (c) (40-0-1) vs. Dominic Breazeale (20-1) [Showtime Championship Boxing]

1. IBF World Bantamweight/WBA Regular World Bantamweight Championships/World Boxing Super Series Semifinals: Emmanuel Rodriguez (c) (19-0) vs. Naoya Inoue (c) (17-0) [World Boxing Super Series]

 

MMA

5. Lightweight Bout: Charles Oliveira (26-8) vs. Nik Lentz (30-9-2) [UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee]

4. Welterweight Bout: Neil Magny (21-7) vs. Vicente Luque (15-6-1) [UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee]

3. Women’s Featherweight Bout: Felicia Spencer (6-0) vs. Megan Anderson (9-3) [UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee]

2. OneFC Lightweight Championship: Shinya Aoki (c) (43-8) vs. Christian Lee (11-3) [OneFC: Enter The Dragon]

1. Welterweight Bout: Kevin Lee (17-4) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (28-11) [UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee]

 

GRAPPLING/WRESTLING

5. 175lb Purple Belt No-Gi Bout: Justin Baesman vs. Roman Schomberg [Fight To Win 113]

4. 260lb Black Belt Bout: Patrick Welsh vs. Sam Rice [Fight To Win 113]

3. Super Heavyweight Black Belt Bout: Byron Cragg vs. Ernest Mello [Fight To Win 113]

2. Fight To Win Female Black Belt Flyweight Championship: Amanda Monteiro vs. Karen Antunes [Fight To Win 113]

1. 215 Black Belt Bout: Kaynan Duarte vs. Tanner Rice [Fight To Win 113]

 

 

Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: A man who took an absolute cannonball to the beans last week (who the hell saw THAT coming from Julian Williams?!) attempts to rally to, I’m guessing, no avail.

 

Best Fight of the Weekend: Naoya Inoue vs. Emmanuel Rodriguez
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: Nieky Holzken vs. Regian Eersel
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Billy Joe Saunders over Shefat Isufi
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: OneFC: Enter The Dragon
Upset of the Week: Kevin Lee over Rafael dos Anjos
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Deontay Wilder vs. Dominic Breazeale

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