The Weekend Bulletin

A quick snapshot at the weekend that was.

Biggest Upset: Robert Helenius +1400 over Adam Kownacki

Notable New Champions:

• Invicta Fighting Championship Bantamweight Champion: Julija Stoliarenko
• IBF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion: Demsey McKean
• WBO Asia Pacific Heavyweight Champion: Demsey McKean
• WBC Continental Americas Junior Welterweight Champion: Luis Alberto Hernandez Ramos
• NABF Lightweight Champion: Oscar Duarte
• WBO Intercontinental Super Middleweight Champion: Zach Parker
• WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Champion: Frank Sanchez
• WBC Women’s Flyweight Muay Thai Champion: Lara Fernandez
• Combat Jiu Jitsu Featherweight World Champion: Tom Halpin
• Fight To Win Black Belt Welterweight Champion: Michael Liera

A Few Storylines Going Forward:

1. FIGHT FOR-EV-ER: The WWE crowd is seldom original and seldom entertaining, but when they busted that chant out for Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura years ago, they created a timeless classic that should have been chanted en masse for Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk on Saturday. For nearly every delicious second of this fight, these two were either battering each other in the head and neck region, or positioning themselves to. It was an absolute classic, perhaps the greatest women’s MMA fight of all-time, one of the best UFC title fights ever, period, and one of the rare fights where both fighters came out looking better. Joanna proved she is very much a monster at 115 and nowhere near ready to hang ’em up, and Weili finally made a statement on Western Hemisphere soil and opened the eyes of millions of new fans.
2. Soldier of Plod: Well that was certainly a “fight”, according to the guidelines of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Woof. Over the span of twenty-five minutes, and on the monentum of possibly the greatest women’s fight in history that came before it, Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero went out and WENT. TO. WAR. After five rounds of what can generously be described as “light tapping”, the bell mercifully rang, and Adesanya was announced as the retaining champion. Afterwards, there was plenty of blame to go around. Dana White blamed Romero, Paulo Costa blamed Adesanya, and I blamed my credit card for being stolen to the VISA customer service line.
3. Baby Face, Large Body: In August, when Adam Kownacki fought Chris Arreola in his last bout, he said he felt too heavy for the fight, weighing in at 266lbs. So, hey, lesson learned, he escaped with a win, no harm no foul, he’s got a world title fight eliminator against a fighter in Robert Helenius who hasn’t been a real contender since 2011, what does he step on the scales at? 265lbs. Helenius proceeded to finish him in the fourth round. Little too high on praise? Little Andy Ruiz Jr. Syndrome? At any rate, a horrible showing and result for Kownacki, and for Helenius, the chance of a lifetime.