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.
Misc./Combination combat sports programming is in GREEN.

Friday December 8

9:00am: VAC National Holiday Duals (FloWrestling)
9:00am: 2017 Walsh Jesuit Ironman (FloWrestling)
2:00pm: Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux Weigh-Ins (ESPN2)
6:00pm: UFC Fight Night Weigh-Ins (Fox Sports 1)
6:30pm: TKO 41 (UFC Fight Pass)
7:00pm: Buffalo vs. Michigan State (ESPN3)
8:00pm: Invicta Fighting Championships 26 (UFC Fight Pass)
8:00pm: Rutgers vs. Iowa (FloWrestling)
8:50pm: Fight To Win Pro 57 (FloGrappling)
9:00pm: Ahmed Elbiali vs. Jean Pascal/Alex Martin vs. Bryant Perrella (Fox Sports 1)
9:00pm: Legacy Fighting Alliance 28 (AXS)
9:00pm: Janks Trotter vs. Patrice Volny/Dwayne Durel vs. Kane Heron ($9.99 Fite.tv)
9:00pm: Xtreme Fight Night 345 (FREE Fite.tv)
9:30pm: Havoc Fighting Championship 12 ($14.99 Fite.tv)

Saturday December 9

5:00am: Absolute Championship Berkut 76 (FREE Fite.tv/YouTube)
9:00am: VAC National Holiday Duals (FloWrestling)
9:00am: 2017 Walsh Jesuit Ironman (FloWrestling)
11:00am: Glory 49 (ESPN3)
11:00am: Northern Iowa Open (FloWrestling)
11:45am: Dynasty Combat Sports 38 (FloCombat)
12:00pm: King of Kings World Grand Prix 2017 in Moldova Prelims ($4.99 Fite.tv)
1:00pm: Hafenkeilerei VI ($9.99 Fite.tv)
1:00pm: Austria Fight Challenge 6 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
1:30pm: Glory 49 Superfight Series (UFC Fight Pass)
2:00pm: King of Kings World Grand Prix in Moldova ($9.99 Fite.tv)
2:50pm: Caleb Truax vs. James DeGale/Eduardo Ramirez vs. Lee Selby (Showtime’s Facebook/YouTube)
4:00pm: Glory: Redemption ($29.99 UFC Fight Pass)
4:30pm: Fury Fighting Championship 20 (FloCombat)
6:30pm: 2017 KASAI Pro (FloGrappling)
7:00pm: Primus Fighting Championship: Cleveland vs. Alexander ($16.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: Bellator 190 (Spike)
8:00pm: Maverick MMA 4 (FloCombat)
9:00pm: Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Vasyl Lomachenko/Casey Ramos vs. Christopher Diaz (ESPN)
9:00pm: Dead Serious MMA 26 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
10:15pm: Bellator Kickboxing 8 (Spike)
10:20pm: Orlando Salido vs. Miguel Roman/Kenichi Ogawa vs. Tevin Farmer (HBO)

Sunday December 10

2:00am: Pancrase 292 (UFC Fight Pass)
7:20am: MAX Muay Thai ($10.99 Fite.tv)
9:00am: VAC National Holiday Duals (FloWrestling)
10:30am: Lion Fighting Championship 14 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
1:00pm: Maryland vs. Iowa (FloWrestling)

Top-10 Viewing Options: A man disgusted at the fact that Alabama could very well slither to another national championship attempts to put that out of his mind and watch a surprisingly excellent fight weekend.

  1. Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Vasyl Lomachenko/Casey Ramos vs. Christopher Diaz: Loma vs. Rigo. A purist’s absolute dream fight. Every boxing diehard you know is all kinds of fired up for this weekend.

  2. Glory 49: The main card is butt, but the Superfight Series is fantastic.

  3. 2017 KASAI Pro: Loaded tournament in Brooklyn, Agazarm, Grippo, Tonon, etc…

  4. Caleb Truax vs. James DeGale/Eduardo Ramirez vs. Lee Selby: Absurd matchmaking by Frank Warren, and this is coming from a true Truax fan. This should not be happening, BUT Showtime is ponying up for a live, free stream, so this is now worth my time.

  5. Glory: Redemption: BOY, I wish this wasn’t PPV, but 30 bucks for Rico-Jamal Ben Saddik and a quality undercard isn’t bad. Just wish there were more than four bouts.

  6. Bellator Kickboxing 8: Becoming a pattern in Bellator Kickboxing, tons of big names not fighting each other.

  7. Orlando Salido vs. Miguel Roman/Kenichi Ogawa vs. Tevin Farmer: Salido vs. Roman is the kind of crusty fight that I secretly love. Over 120 pro bouts combined, I can’t wait to watch these grizzled 130lbers scrap.

  8. Invicta Fighting Championships 26: Mackenzie Dern baybay! Oh, and a fantastic-looking flyweight title fight with big implications for future UFC Women’s Flyweight title bouts.

  9. Bellator 190: Alessio Sakara really shouldn’t be fighting for anyone’s world title in 2017.

  10. Fight To Win Pro 57: Caio Terra vs. Marcelo Cohen is a damned-fine main event, as F2W chugs along.

Under The Radar: Five things to keep an eye on away from the headlines.

1. In car-crash fighting this weekend, Houston Alexander is in action! Taking on journeyman Rakim Cleveland Saturday night, it can be on your screen for a mere $16.99.

2. Putting in work in 2017 has been Dakota Cochrane. The TUF contender/journeyman is fighting in his sixth bout this Saturday for Dynasty Combat Sports. He’s 3-2 this year and 30-12 overall.

3. For the first time in nearly three years, Nieky Holzen will not be fighting for a world title for Glory. After losing his title, then losing his rematch against Cedric Doumbe, he’s making his climb back.

4. At 33 years old, and one of the best American heavyweights, this might be the last run Bryant Jennings has towards a world title. Both of his career losses were for world title, despite taking a few rounds off of Wladimir Klitschko. He then lost to Luis Ortiz, but banked a win after that, and is facing 13-1-1 Don Haynesworth on the ESPN card.

5. At just 20 years old, super-prospect and Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson is only a couple fights away from a title shot if he can get past Oscar Mendoza on the ESPN undercard. Comparisons to Floyd Mayweather have been thrown around, even by Floyd himself.

Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: A man who’s wearing mittens so the powers that be don’t see how many fingers I currently posess attempt to bring my debt to, hopefully, the black.

Best Fight of the Weekend: Brian Ortega vs. Cub Swanson
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: Danyo Ilunga vs. Michael Duut
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Lee Selby over Eduardo Ramirez
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: Glory 49
Upset of the Week: Caitlin Huggins over Raquel Pa’aluhi
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Kenichi Ogawa vs. Tevin Farmer