Your Weekend in Combat Sports

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.
Movies are in AQUA.
Misc. combat sports programming is in GREEN.

Friday August 18

1:00am: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
1:30am: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime)
2:00am: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
3:00am: UFC Tonight (Fox Sports 2)
4:00am: UFC Unleashed (Fox Sports 2)
5:00am: UFC Ultimate Knockouts (Fox Sports 2)
6:30am: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 1)
7:00am: OneFC: Quest For Greatness ($9.99 OneFC.com)
7:30am: UFC Unleashed (Fox Sports 1)
8:30am: UFC Tonight (Fox Sports 1)
9:30am: UFC Top-Ten (Fox Sports 2)
10:00am: UFC Unleashed (Fox Sports 2)
11:00am: UFC Tonight (Fox Sports 2)
12:00pm: UFC Classics (Fox Sports 2)
1:00pm: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
3:00pm: UFC Tonight (Fox Sports 2)
4:00pm: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
6:30pm: UFC Top Ten (Fox Sports 2)
7:00pm: Heavy Hitters (ESPN Deportes)
7:00pm: Titan Fighting Championship 45 (UFC Fight Pass)
7:00pm: UFC Tonight (Fox Sports 2)
7:00pm: American Kombat Alliance 1 (FloCombat)
8:00pm: Terence Crawford vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa (ESPN Deportes)
8:00pm: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
8:30pm: Golden Boy on ESPN Prelims (ESPN3)
9:00pm: Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol (ESPN Deportes)
9:00pm: UFC Classics (Fox Sports 2)
9:00pm: Legacy Fighting Alliance 19 (AXS)
10:00pm: Golden Boy on ESPN Prelims (ESPN Deportes)
10:00pm: UFC Unleashed (Fox Sports 2)
10:05pm: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime)
11:00pm: Albert Machado vs. Carlos Morales/Emanuel Rivera vs. Nate Green (ESPN2)
11:00pm: Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana (CBS Sports)
11:00pm: UFC Ultimate Knockouts (Fox Sports 2)

Saturday August 19

12:00am: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime Extreme)
12:00am: Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana (CBS Sports)
12:30am: Legacy Fighting Alliance 19 (AXS)
1:00am: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime)
2:30am: UFC Tonight (Fox Sports 2)
3:05am: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime)
3:30am: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
4:00am: CES MMA 45 (AXS)
4:00am: Wimp 2 Warrior Melbourne Season 2 Finale ($14.99 Fite.tv)
4:30am: UFC Top-Ten (Fox Sports 2)
5:00am: UFC Tonight (Fox Sports 1)
5:00am: Punches in the Park 5 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
6:30am: The Hurricane (The Movie Channel Xtra)
7:30am: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
8:30am: UFC Top-Ten (Fox Sports 2)
9:00am: 2017 Super 32 PA Early Entry (FloWrestling)
11:00am: Legacy Fighting Alliance 19 (AXS)
11:00am: Absolute Championship Berkut 67 (YouTube)
11:30am: UFC Top-Ten (Fox Sports 2)
12:00pm: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
1:00pm: UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Te Huna (Fox Sports 2)
1:30pm: Polaris Pro 5 (UFC Fight Pass)
2:30pm: 30 For 30: Chasing Tyson (ESPN Classic)
3:00pm: UFC Classics (Fox Sports 2)
3:25pm: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime)
4:00pm: Aspera Fighting Championship 56 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
6:00pm: Warfare MMA 16 (FloCombat)
6:30pm: Fight Night 2K17 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
7:00pm: Cage Combat 29 (FloCombat)
7:30pm: Premier MMA Championship 4 (FloCombat)
8:00pm: Dynasty Combat Sports 36 (FloCombat)
8:30pm: Top Rank on ESPN Prelims (ESPN3)
9:30pm: WFF 35 (FloCombat)
10:00pm: Julius Indongo vs. Terence Crawford/Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs. Craig Baker (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN3)
10:00pm: CFX 9 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
10:05pm: Cinderella Man (Flix)
10:15pm: Southpaw (The Movie Channel Xtra)

Sunday August 20

12:00am: Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez (CBS Sports)
12:30am: Julius Indongo vs. Terence Crawford/Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs. Craig Baker (ESPN2)
1:00am: Andre Berto vs. Floyd Mayweather (CBS Sports)
1:30am: UFC Top-Ten (Fox Sports 2)
2:00am: Pancrase 289 (UFC Fight Pass)
2:00am: UFC Tonight (Fox Sports 2)
2:30am: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime)
3:00am: UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Te Huna (Fox Sports 2)
4:00am: Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana (CBS Sports)
4:03am: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime)
5:00am: Julius Indongo vs. Terence Crawford/Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs. Craig Baker (ESPN Deportes)
5:00am: Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana II (CBS Sports)
5:00am: UFC Unleashed (Fox Sports 2)
8:30am: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime Extreme)
9:00am: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
10:00am: UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Te Huna (Fox Sports 2)
12:00pm: Southpaw (The Movie Channel)
12:00pm: UFC Tonight (Fox Sports 2)
1:00pm: 30 For 30: Chasing Tyson (ESPN Classic)
1:00pm: UFC Classics (Fox Sports 2)
2:00pm: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
3:00pm: UFC Main Event (Fox Sports 2)
5:00pm: All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor (Showtime Extreme)
6:00pm: UFC Fight Flashback: Diaz vs. McGregor (Fox Sports 1)
6:30pm: UFC Fight Flashback: Diaz vs. McGregor II (Fox Sports 1)
7:00pm: UFC Fight Flashback: McGregor vs. Mendes (Fox Sports 1)
7:30pm: UFC Fight Night: Brandao vs. McGregor (Fox Sports 1)
8:00pm: Southpaw (The Movie Channel)
10:05pm: The Hurricane (The Movie Channel)

Top-10 Viewing Options: A man peering out of his curtains after the nuclear wasteland that was last weekend worriedly tries to see if his TV still works.

  1. Julius Indongo vs. Terence Crawford/Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs. Craig Baker: On ESPN, no less! Junior Lightweight unification bout! ESPN!

  2. Polaris Pro 5: An absolutely stacked card, plus a chance to watch someone hurt Masakazu Imanari, which is a favorite pastime of mine.

  3. Legacy Fighting Alliance 19: LFA really hitting their sweet spot of consistent shows and good quality. LFC never die!

  4. Albert Machado vs. Carlos Morales/Emanuel Rivera vs. Nate Green: I really like ESPN doing a smaller Friday card leading into a big Saturday card. Keep on, keeping on, ESPN.

  5. Absolute Championship Berkut 67: This ACB card is loaded with American and European well-known fighters. They’re always free on two platforms (YouTube and Fite) and always a good watch.

  6. OneFC: Quest For Greatness: Hey now, OneFC! Two weeks from the last outing and two damned solid cards. This is what most of us had hoped they would be when they started out.

  7. Pancrase 289: The only place to see Mamoru Yamaguchi and his glorious hair.

  8. All-Access: Mayweather vs. McGregor: It’ll all be over soon, it’ll all be over soon, it’ll all be over so–

  9. Titan Fighting Championship 45: Not, uhhh…, not Titan’s best offering. They usually pack names all over the card, not this weekend, and no up-and-coming prospects.

  10. Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana: Maidana gave Mayweather the toughest bout of the last decade or so, and is a prime example of what can happen when you just throw chaos at Mayweather. Then, he abandoned that entirely in the rematch.

Outside the Tube: Fighters you know or should know that won’t be appearing on your magic television box over the weekend.

• Takeru [vs. Yoshiki Takei, August 20, Krush 79, Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall, Nagoya, Japan]
• Masaaki Noiri [vs. Diego Freitas, August 20, Krush 79, Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall, Nagoya, Japan]
• Tetsuya Yamamto [vs. Elson Patrick, August 20, Krush 79, Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall, Nagoya, Japan]
• Masakazu Imanari [vs. Valmyr Neto, August 19, Polaris Pro 5, Indigo at the O2, London, England]
• AJ Agazarm [vs. Lloyd Cooper, August 19, Polaris Pro 5, Indigo at the O2, London, England]
• Caol Uno vs. Vitor Shaolin [August 19, Polaris Pro 5, Indigo at the O2, London, England]
• Brad Pickett [vs. Phil Harris, August 19, Polaris Pro 5, Indigo at the O2, London, England]
• Jake Shields [vs. Dan Strauss, August 19, Polaris Pro 5, Indigo at the O2, London, England]
• Dillon Danis vs. Garry Tonon [August 19, Polaris Pro 5, Indigo at the O2, London, England]
• Valdir Araujo [vs. Adriano Capitulino, August 18, Titan Fighting Championship 45, Pembroke Pines City Center, Pembroke Pines, Florida]
• Marat Gafurov [vs. Martin Nguyen, August 18, OneFC: Quest For Greatness, Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur]
• Brett Cooper [vs. Mukhamed Berkhamov, August 19, Absolute Championship Berkut 67, Colosseum Sports Complex, Grozny, Chechnya]
• Luis Palomino [vs. Yusuf Raisov, August 19, Absolute Championship Berkut 67, Colosseum Sports Complex, Grozny, Chechnya]
• Clifford Starks [vs. Albert Duraev, August 19, Absolute Championship Berkut 67, Colosseum Sports Complex, Grozny, Chechnya]
• Mamoru Yamaguchi [vs. Senzo Ikeda, August 20, Pancrase 289, Differ Ariake, Tokyo, Japan]
• Isao Kobayashi [vs. Kyle Aguon, August 20, Pancrase 289, Differ Ariake, Tokyo, Japan]
• Ryuta Sakurai [vs. Hikaru Sato, August 20, Pancrase 289, Differ Ariake, Tokyo, Japan]
• Richie Vaculik [vs. Nobuki Fujii, August 20, Pancrase 289, Differ Ariake, Tokyo, Japan]

Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: To the thankfulness of everyone, most notably my family (we’ll get you back, sis! Stay strong! Only a few more dollars to cobble together!), I wasn’t able to make picks last weekend because of no action, but this week, HO HO, LET’S DO IT.

Best Fight of the Weekend: Julius Indongo vs. Terence Crawford
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: Dillon Danis vs. Garry Tonon
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Takeru over Yoshiki Takei
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: Top Rank on ESPN
Upset of the Week: Albert Duraev over Clifford Starks
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Dan Strauss vs. Jake Shields