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 June 14

5:00pm: Fury vs. Schwarz Weigh-Ins (ESPN2)
5:30pm: Max on Boxing (ESPN2)
6:00pm: Fury vs. Schwarz Free for All (FREE Fite.tv)
6:30pm: Bellator 222 Prelims (DAZN)
9:00pm: Fury vs. Schwarz Live Preview Special (ESPN)
9:00pm: PBC Face to Face: Charlo vs. Cota (Fox Sports 2)
9:00pm: Cage Fury Fighting Championship 76 (UFC Fight Pass)
10:00pm: Bellator 222 (DAZN)

 

Saturday June 15

5:00am: OneFC: Legendary Quest Prelims (OneFC App)
5:30am: Boxingmania 6 ($14.95 Epicentre.tv)
6:00am: Cesar Ramirez vs. Jason Moloney/Kerry Foley vs. Mose Auimatagi Jr. (ESPN+)
6:00am: Road Fighting Championship 54 (DAZN)
7:00am: 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Moscow (FloGrappling)
8:00am: OneFC: Legendary Quest (OneFC App)
9:00am: 2019 Jazz Town Duals (FloWrestling)
1:00pm: 2019 Final X Lincoln (FloWrestling)
2:00pm: Krzysztof Glowacki vs. Mairis Briedis/Andrew Tabiti vs. Yuniel Dorticos (DAZN)
3:00pm: Josh Warrington vs. Kid Galahad/James Metcalf vs. Jason Welborn (ESPN+)
6:00pm: Cage Titans 44 (FloCombat)
6:00pm: Top Dox Boxing: Invitational ($14.99 Fite.tv)
7:00pm: Top Rank on ESPN Prelims (ESPN2)
7:00pm: 2019 Final X Lincoln (FloWrestling)
7:00pm: World Class Kickboxing Championship 15 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: Fight To Win 115 (FloGrappling)
8:00pm: V3 Fights 75 (FloCombat)
8:00pm: WGP 55 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: Walkout Fighting Championship 17 ($16.99 Fite.tv)
9:00pm: Fusion Fight League: Lights Out at the Dome 3 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
10:00pm: Tom Schwarz vs. Tyson Fury/Jesse Hart vs. Sullivan Barrera (ESPN+)

 

Sunday June 16

7:00am: 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Moscow (FloGrappling)
9:00am: 2019 Jazz Town Duals (FloWrestling)

 

 

Top-10 Viewing Options: A man still glowing about the denial of another Boston championship will deflate fast watching Rory MacDonald’s mid-career crisis.

 

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  1. Bellator 222: Just a monster card with a mix of everything. Title fights spanning multiple promotions, tournaments, up-and-commers, even the prelims are stacked.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  2. Krzysztof Glowacki vs. Mairis Briedis/Andrew Tabiti vs. Yuniel Dorticos: The World Boxing Super Series rolls on! This time the cruiserweight division that is wide open after the departure of Oleksandr Usyk.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  3. OneFC: Legendary Quest: The headline fight is a muay thai title bout between two women who are a combined 39 years old. Future is now!

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  4. 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Moscow: Great tour, including a ten-man King of Mats heavyweight tournament.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  5. Tom Schwarz vs. Tyson Fury/Jesse Hart vs. Sullivan Barrera: Tom goddamned Schwarz. The Ruiz win should have been a giant wakeup-call to the boxing world, and especially the heavyweight division, that you should make your goddamned money while you still can. No more Tom Schwarzes after this. Steve Rolls a week ago was bad enough, but at least Golovkin earned a breather.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  6. Josh Warrington vs. Kid Galahad/James Metcalf vs. Jason Welborn: After two out-and-out wars with Lee Selby and Carl Frampton, he takes a step back for the long-groomed, but still unready Kid Galahad.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  7. Fight To Win 115: I’m a simple man. I see Fight To Win, I write it down and watch it.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  8. WGP 55: I’ve sung the praises at WGP before as the premier Brazilian kickboxing promotion where every Brazilian kickboxer you know has come out of. One of them headlines this weekend as Guto Inocente defends his super heavyweight title.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  9. 2019 Final X Lincoln: Even though we’re not “in season”, the wrestling world never stops spinning. Final X is a great tournament with national team ramifications.

Your Weekend in Combat Sports  10. Max on Boxing: Max’s pick for Fury-Schwarz? You guessed it, Andre Ward.

 

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 Kickboxing Bout: Tyler Hardcastle (24-9) vs. Zhang Chenglong (47-12-1) [OneFC: Legendary Quest]

4. Bantamweight Muay Thai Bout: Liam Harrison (85-23-2) vs. Rodlek Saenchaimuaythaigym (125-40-5) [OneFC: Legendary Quest]

3. Light Heavyweight Kickboxing Bout: Anderson Braddock Silva (44-17-1) vs. Tarik Khbabez (39-4-1) [OneFC: Legendary Quest]

2. WGP Super Heavyweight Championship: Guto Inocente (c) (36-10) vs. Francesco Xhaja (11-4) [WGP 55]

1. OneFC Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai Championship: Stamp Fairtex (c) (62-15-5) vs. Alma Juniku (24-4) [OneFC: Legendary Quest]

 

BOXING

5. WBC World Female Bantamweight Championship: Mariana Juarez (c) (52-9-4) vs. Diana Laura Fernandez (20-2)

4. Heavyweight Bout: Tom Schwarz (24-0) vs. Tyson Fury (27-0-1) [Top Rank on ESPN+]

3. World Boxing Super Series Cruiserweight Semifinals: Andrew Tabiti (17-0) vs. Yuniel Dorticos (23-1) [WBSS on DAZN]

2. IBF World Featherweight Championship: Josh Warrington (c) (28-0) vs. Kid Galahad (26-0) [Top Rank on ESPN+]

1. Vacant WBC World Cruiserweight Championship/WBO World Cruiserweight Championship/World Boxing Super Series Semifinals: Krzysztof Glowacki (c) (31-1) vs. Mairis Briedis (25-1) [WBSS on DAZN]

 

MMA

5. Bantamweight Bout: Patrick Mix (10-0) vs. Ricky Bandejas (11-2) [Bellator 222]

4. Vacant Cage Fury Fighting Championship: Andre Barquero Morera (6-1) vs. Sean Santella (21-7-1) [Cage Fury Fighting Championship 76]

3. Bellator Welterweight Championship: Rory MacDonald (c) (20-5-1) vs. Neiman Gracie (9-0) [Bellator 222]

2. Bantamweight Bout: Juan Archuleta (22-1) vs. Eduardo Dantas (21-6) [Bellator 222]

1. Bellator Bantamweight Championship: Darrion Caldwell (c) (13-2) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (27-2) [Bellator 222]

 

GRAPPLING/WRESTLING

5. 225lb Black Belt Bout: Daniel Ripper vs. Jamison Cummings [Fight To Win 115]

4. 155lb Black Belt Masters Championship” Marcos Torregrosa vs. Pete Shoemaker [Fight To Win 115]

3. 215lb Black Belt Bout: Helton Jose Jr. vs. Tanner Rice [Fight To Win 115]

2. 74kg Freestyle Bout: Isaiah Martinez vs. Jordan Burroughs [2019 Final X: Lincoln]

1. King of Mats Moscow Heavyweight Tournament [2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Moscow]

 

Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: A man who took a bath on Joshua-Ruiz bets big on Fury-Schwarz because I am an idiot who learns nothing! …yes, I know Tom Schwarz is no Andy Ruiz, but still.

 

Best Fight of the Weekend: Darrion Caldwell vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: Anderson Braddock Silva vs. Tarik Khbabez
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Tyson Fury over Tom Schwarz
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: Bellator 222
Upset of the Week: Sullivan Barrera over Jesse Hart
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Neiman Gracie vs. Rory MacDonald

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