Friday July 20
2:30pm: Partouche Kickboxing Tour ($9.99 Fite.tv)
5:30pm: Golden Boy on ESPN Prelims (ESPN3)
5:50pm: Glory 55 Prelims (YouTube/Facebook)
7:00pm: Deivi Julio Bassa vs. Lamont Roach/Debora Rengifo vs. Marlen Esparza (ESPN)
7:30pm: Glory 55 Superfight Series (UFC Fight Pass)
9:30pm: Glory 55 (ESPNEWS)
10:00pm: Legacy Fighting Alliance 45 (AXS)
10:00pm: Armando Alvarez vs. Jaron Ennis/Eugen Buchmueller vs. Zhilei Zhang (Showtime)
11:00pm: Jonathan Gonzalez vs. Julian Yedras (Telemundo)
Saturday July 21
2:00am: M-1 Challenge 95 Prelims (FREE Fite.tv)
4:30am: M-1 Challenge 95 ($7.99 Fite.tv)
7:20am: The Champion Muay Thai (YouTube)
1:30pm: Lion Fight 44 (FloCombat)
3:00pm: Murat Gassiev vs. Oleksandr Usyk (Klowd.tv)
4:00pm: Cage Warriors 95 (UFC Fight Pass)
5:30pm: Fight To Win Pro 81 (FloGrappling)
7:00pm: World Class Kickboxing Championship 13 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
7:00pm: Evolution Fighting Championships 9 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: Invicta Fighting Championship 30 (UFC Fight Pass)
8:00pm: Valor Fights 51 (FloCombat)
9:00pm: Xcessive Force Fighting Championship 18 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
9:00pm: Edmonton Combat League 3: Canada vs. USA ($14.99 Fite.tv)
10:00pm: Jaime Munguia vs. Liam Smith/Alberto Machado vs. Rafael Mensah (HBO)
Sunday July 22
7:20am: MAX Muay Thai (YouTube)
10:30am: UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Smith Prelims (UFC Fight Pass)
11:00am: UFC Fight Night Pre-Fight Show (Fox Sports 1)
12:00pm: UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Smith Prelims (Fox Sports 1)
2:00pm: UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Smith (Fox Sports 1)
5:00pm: UFC Fight Night Post-Fight Show (Fox Sports 1)
Top-10 Viewing Options: A man who’s city is finally no longer the surface of Venus attempts to stick his head outside for the first time all summer.
1. Glory 55: Luckily I carry ESPNEWS at my home because I live in 1999. C’mon, Glory, you can do better. However, the prelims and Superfight Series are easily-viewed.
2. Murat Gassiev vs. Oleksandr Usyk: Yes, it’s only one fight, but hooooly Toledo, this is the biggest and best cruiserweight fight since maybe Holyfield was in the division. If they want to be buds and throw in the Cecilia Braekhus fight in there, as well, that’d sure be swell.
3. Jaime Munguia vs. Liam Smith/Alberto Machado vs. Rafael Mensah: Damned fine card here. The WBO 154lb pound strap is a hot potato lately and has had a strange journey.
4. UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Smith: Move over one Randal Keith Orton, there’s a new legend killer on the block, and I have little to no interest in watching Anthony Smith extinguish another of my favorites’ career.
5. Fight To Win Pro 81: Solid, if unspectacular, which will be inscribed on Fight To Win’s tombstone one day.
6. Armando Alvarez vs. Jaron Ennis/Eugen Buchmueller vs. Zhilei Zhang: Zhang-Buchmueller is just intriguing enough, in a potential car crash way, to warrant an eyeball.
7. Invicta Fighting Championship 30: Not a stacked card by any means, but the main event should deliver, and Jinh Yu Frey is one of the most enjoyable and charismatic female fighters you should be paying attention to in and out of the cage.
8. Legacy Fighting Alliance 45: Erick Silva makes his LFA debut, hopefully to rejuvenate his career. Remember how much promise that kid had when he burst onto the scene?
9. Cage Warriors 95: No blue-chippers on Cage Warriors, unlike many times, but a solid setup. Fight Pass has a busy weekend away from the UFC.
10. Deivi Julio Bassa vs. Lamont Roach/Debora Rengifo vs. Marlen Esparza: Weak offering from Golden Boy, but Friday night boxing on ESPN will always have a spot in my heart.
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. Featherweight Bout: Asa Ten Pow (7-2) vs. Justin Greskiewicz (38-19-3) [Glory 55]
4. Heavyweight Bout: Anthony McDonald (8-2) vs. Junior Tafa (18-3) [Glory 55]
3. Women’s Super Bantamweight Bout: Sofia Olofsson (48-7) vs. Tiffany van Soest (20-5-2) [Glory 55]
2. Welterweight Bout: Alan Scheinson (51-6) vs. Cedric Doumbe (68-7-1) [Glory 55]
1. Glory Middleweight Championship: Alex Pereira (c) (38-6) vs. Yousri Belgaroui (24-4) [Glory 55]
BOXING
5. Cruiserweight Bout: Jean Pascal (32-5-1) vs. Steve Bosse (1-0) [GYM Promotions]
4. IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC/WBO World Female Welterweight Championships: Cecilia Braekhus (c) (33-0) vs. Inna Sagaydakovskaya (7-0) [Patriot Boxing Promotions]
3. WBA World Junior Lightweight Championship: Alberto Machado (c) (19-0) vs. Rafael Mensah (31-0) [HBO Boxing After Dark]
2. WBO World Junior Middleweight Championship: Jaime Munguia (c) (29-0) vs. Liam Smith (26-1-1) [HBO Boxing After Dark]
1. IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO World Cruiserweight Championships: Murat Gassiev (c) (26-0) vs. Oleksandr Usyk (c) (14-0) [World Boxing Super Series]
MMA
5. Heavyweight Bout: Marcin Tybura (16-4) vs. Stefan Struve (28-10) [UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Smith]
4. Lightweight Bout: Alexander Sarnavskiy (35-7) vs. Herdeson Batista (12-3) [Absolute Championship Berkut 89]
3. Welterweight Bout: Erick Silva (19-9) vs. Nick Barnes (12-3) [Legacy Fighting Alliance 45]
2. Vacant Invicta Atomweight Championship: Jinh Yu Frey (6-3) vs. Minna Grusander (6-1) [Invicta Fighting Championship 30]
1. Light Heavyweight Bout: Corey Anderson (10-4) vs. Glover Teixeira (27-6) [UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Smith]
GRAPPLING/WRESTLING
5. 205 Black Belt No-Gi Bout: Daniel Jordan vs. Radji Bryson Barrett [Fight To Win Pro 81]
4. 220lb Black Belt Bout: Kenneth Brown vs. Tim Carpenter [Fight To Win Pro 81]
3. 230lb Black Belt Bout: Eric Johnson vs. Jay Cox [Fight To Win Pro 81]
2. 155 Black Belt No-Gi Bout: Pete Shoemaker vs. Wilson Reis [Fight To Win Pro 81]
1. 185lb Black Belt No-Gi Bout: Gilbert Burns vs. Nick Calvanese [Fight To Win Pro 81]
Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: A man who picked four upsets out of his five picks and paid DEARLY to the tune of losing over eighty bucks out of a hundred attempts to give you advice, because chaos reigns.
Best Fight of the Weekend: Murat Gassiev vs. Oleksandr Usyk
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: Marc Diakiese vs. Nasrat Haqparast
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Denis Shafikov over Jhon Gemino
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: Glory 55
Upset of the Week: Liam Smith over Jaime Munguia
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Anthony Smith vs. Shogun Rua
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