The Weekend Bulletin

A quick snapshot at the weekend that was.

Biggest Upset: Cub Swanson over Kron Gracie/Amanda Ribas over Mackenzie Dern +150

Notable New Champions:

• IBF Intercontinental Flyweight Champion: Jay Harris
• WBC International Cruiserweight Champion: Tommy McCarthy

A Few Storylines Going Forward:

1. She’s Not Dead Yet: After losing three consecutive title fights in two different weight classes, it was easy to count out Joanna Jedrzejczyk and say she was washed, but she got a nice rebound package in the form of 5’3″ Michelle Waterson. The Karate Hottie was game and was tough as nails, but Joanna wisely used her absurd size and length advantage to work her over with strikes. Joanna gets a headlining, strong win, and with the strawweight division playing hot potato with the title, Joanna Violence is right back in the hunt.
2. Defending Champion: I said in a preview of Marat Grigorian’s first title defense of his Glory Lightweight championship, that sometimes fighters, after chasing the world title for so long, finally reach the mountaintop, and that ends their motivation. I used Michael Bentt or Buster Douglas as examples. Grigorian has been chasing this for years, and failed on two championship matches and two contender tournaments. He finally, finally, by-God finally (tm Jim Ross) achieved it in May and had his first title defense this weekend against Tyjani Beztati, and….looked fantastic! Pressure, pressure, pressure. He looked as hungry as ever, stuck to his gameplan, and fought his fight to the tune of an easy defense. Marat looks like he’s here to stay on top.
3. Destined To Do This Forever: March 31, Angela Lee goes up in weight and challenges for Xiong Jingnan’s OneFC Flyweight championship, and gets finished in the fifth round. October 13, Xiong Jingnan goes down in weight to challenge for Angela Lee’s OneFC strawweight championship, and gets finished in the fifth round. These two are maybe the most evenly-matched high-level fighters out there and clearly the yin to the other’s yang. FIGHT-FOR-EV-ER! *clap* *clap* *clap-clap-clap*.