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 September 28
5:30am: Julius Long vs. Lucas Browne/Deece McDonald vs. Luke Travers ($14.95 Epicentre.tv)
12:00pm: M-1 Challenge 97 Prelims (FREE Fite.tv)
1:00pm: Callum Smith vs. George Groves (DAZN)
1:30pm: M-1 Challenge 97 ($7.99 Fite.tv)
6:30pm: Fight To Win Pro 87 (FloGrappling)
7:30pm: Top Rank on ESPN Prelims (ESPN+)
8:00pm: RISE Submission Invitational 5 (FloGrappling)
9:00pm: Unified MMA 34 ($19.99 Fite.tv)
10:00pm: Legacy Fighting Alliance 51 (AXS)
10:00pm: Devin Haney vs. Juan Carlos Burgos/Thomas Mattice vs. Zhora Hamazaryan (Showtime)
10:30pm: Alejandro Santiago Barrios vs. Jerwin Ancajas/Ezequiel Maderna vs. Jose Uzcategui (ESPN+)
Saturday September 29
5:00am: MAX Muay Thai (Facebook)
7:00am: World Lethwei Championship: Heartless Tigers ($9.99 Fite.tv)
7:20am: The Champion Muay Thai (YouTube)
9:30am: Kumite 1 League (FREE Fite.tv)
12:00pm: King of Kings 38 Her’s World Series ($4.99 Fite.tv)
12:00pm: GNX Series ($9.99 Fite.tv)
1:00pm: Glory 59 Superfight Series (UFC Fight Pass)
1:30pm: Ansgar Fighting League 16 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
1:30pm: Contenders 24 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
2:00pm: Mix Fight Gala 38 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
3:00pm: Glory 59 (ESPN3)
4:00pm: Cage Warriors 97 (UFC Fight Pass)
7:00pm: Dead Serious MMA 31 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
7:00pm: Elite Amateur Fight League: Hendo’s Fight Night ($14.99 Fite.tv)
8:00pm: Bellator 206 Prelims (Bellator.com)
8:00pm: Eddie Bravo Invitational 17 (UFC Fight Pass)
8:00pm: Mountain Force MMA 5 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
9:00pm: Rumble in the Cage 59 ($16.99 Fite.tv)
9:00pm: Abner Cotto vs. Jorge Linares/Oscar Duarte vs. Roger Gutierrez (Facebook Live)
10:00pm: Bellator 206 (DAZN)
11:30pm: Xtreme Fight Night 352 (UFC Fight Pass)
Sunday September 30
2:00am: RIZIN 13 ($19.99 Fite.tv)
5:00am: MAX Muay Thai (Facebook)
7:20am: MAX Muay Thai (YouTube)
7:30pm: PBC on FOX Prelims (Fox Sports 1)
9:00pm: Brandon Figueroa vs. Oscar Escandon/Ege Ajagba vs. Nick Jones (Fox Sports 1)
Top-10 Viewing Options: Enjoy your last week of fights before the McGregor circus invades your life nonstop.
1. Glory 59: King Rico returns to his throne. Add a featherweight unification and a solid undercard, and this is a no-brainer, especially in the afternoon.
2. Bellator 206: Rampage vs. Wanderlei has absolutely no interest to me, but Lima-Koreshkov and Rory-Gegard more than make up for it.
3. Callum Smith vs. George Groves: The finals of the incredibly fun and successful World Boxing Super Series: Super Middleweight Edition!
4. RIZIN 13: Not as star-studded or varied as their usual cards, but it’s freaking Tenshin vs. Horiguchi. Plus, there’s a lot of Kid Yamamoto’s fingerprints on many of these fighters, he was a trainer to many and this will be an emotional one, for sure.
5. Eddie Bravo Invitational 17: And now it’s the middleweights turn to get on the mats and combat jiu-jitsu people about the torso region.
6. Alejandro Santiago Barrios vs. Jerwin Ancajas/Ezequiel Maderna vs. Jose Uzcategui: World title fight on an ESPN+ for the second week in a row. I’ll take that, they’re coming strong. And they’ll need to, with DAZN in the mix now. Only so many dollars to go around.
7. Abner Cotto vs. Jorge Linares/Oscar Duarte vs. Roger Gutierrez: Pretty clearly a bounceback fight for Linares after his war with Lomachenko, but still, a fighter of Jorge Linares’s caliber on Facebook Live is pretty great for a boxing fan.
8. Cage Warriors 97: Who will be next on the Cage Warriors hype wagon? It’s usually someone, and it’s no longer Paddy Pimblett, so who will it be?
9. RISE Submission Invitational 5: ‘Tis the weekend of middleweight grappling tournaments, it would appear.
10. Legacy Fighting Alliance 51: Bit of a down week for LFA, but when you’re cranking out cards like they do, it’s understandable.
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. Light Heavyweight Bout: Michael Duut (42-10-1) vs. Mourad Bouzidi (72-24-3) [Glory 59]
4. Heavyweight Bout: D’Angelo Marshall (29-5-1) vs. Jamal Ben Saddik (32-8) [Glory 59]
3. Flyweight Bout: Kyoji Horiguchi (0-0) vs. Tenshin Nasukawa (27-0) [RIZIN 13]
2. Glory Featherweight Championship Unification Bout: Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (ic) (157-36-2) vs. Robin van Roosmalen (c) (51-17) [Glory 59]
1. Glory Heavyweight Championship: Rico Verhoeven (c) (54-10) vs. Guto Inocente (35-8) [Glory 59]
BOXING
5. Featherweight Bout: Brandon Figueroa (16-0) vs. Oscar Escandon (25-4) [Premier Boxing Champions on FS1]
4. Junior Welterweight Bout: Abner Cotto (23-3) vs. Jorge Linares (44-4) [Golden Boy on Facebook Live]
3. Light Heavyweight Bout: Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna (26-4) vs. Jose Uzcategui (27-2) [Top Rank on ESPN+]
2. IBF World Junior Bantamweight Championship: Jerwin Ancajas (c) (30-1-1) vs. Alejandro Santiago Barrios (16-2-4) [Top Rank on ESPN+]
1. WBC Diamond Middleweight Championship/WBA Super World Super Middleweight Championship: Callum Smith (c) (24-0) vs. George Groves (c) (28-3) [World Boxing Super Series]
MMA
5. Featherweight Bout: Aaron Pico (3-1) vs. Leandro Higo (18-4) [Bellator 206]
4. 130lb Catchweight Bout: Kai Asakura (10-1) vs. Topnoi Tiger Muaythai (6-1) [RIZIN 13]
3. Strawweight Bout: Haruo Ochi (17-7-2) vs. Mitsuhisa Sunabe (29-7-4) [RIZIN 13]
2. Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Andrey Koreshkov (21-2) vs. Douglas Lima (29-7) [Bellator 206]
1. Bellator Middleweight Championship: Gegard Mousasi (c) (44-6-2) vs. Rory MacDonald (20-4) [Bellator 206]
GRAPPLING/WRESTLING
5. Masters Black Belt Heavyweight Championship: Alan Shebaro vs. Alexandro Ceconi [Fight To Win Pro 87]
4. 170lb Bout: Matheus Lutes vs. Nick Ronan [Rise Submission Invitational 5]
3. Female Featherweight Black Belt No-Gi Championship: Ana Carolina Viera (c) vs. Chelsah Lyons [Fight To Win Pro 87]
2. EBI Rules Middleweight Tournament [Rise Submission Invitational 5]
1. Middleweight Combat Jiu-Jitsu Tournament [Eddie Bravo Invitational 17]
Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: A man who netted a SOLID buck-thirty last week attempts to persuade you to follow him to the promised land.
Best Fight of the Weekend: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Tenshin Nasukawa
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: Andrey Koreshkov vs. Douglas Lima
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Lucas Browne over Julius Long
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: Glory 59
Upset of the Week: Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao over Robin van Roosmalen
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Rampage Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
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