1. Joshua Franco: Is the new WBA “Regular” Junior Bantamweight champion after knocking down Andrew Moloney on the way to a UD upset win on Tuesday’s Top Rank card.
2. Dustin Poirier: Battled back from being down two rounds to none to batter Dan Hooker with incredible combos and strikes to surge ahead 48-47 on all three judges’ scorecards in a helluva come-from-behind victory in the main event of UFC on ESPN to stay in title contention at lightweight.
3. Xande Ribeiro: After a two-year layoff, Xande returned to the mat and armbarred Gabriel Almeida in the main event of Fight To Win 145.
4. Gonnapar Weerasakreck: In December of 2018, Gonnapar Weerasakreck was brutally and suddenly stunned by Japan’s Yuto Shinohara, getting dropped twice and knocked out in just 25 seconds in K-1’s World Lightweight Grand Prix. That shocking loss hung over Gonnapar’s head for a year in a half until Gonnapar finally got his shot at revenge in his home promotion of Krush and for Weerasakreck’s 63kg championship. While he didn’t return the knockout favor, Gonnapar did win via unanimous decision, enacting some matter of vengeance for him getting starched. Rubber match?
5. Jason Nolf: In a battle of NCAA champions, Nolf bested two-time champion Jordan Oliver in a, shall we say, less-than-dynamic main event on Sunday’s Rumble on the Roof show on Fite that took place, yes, on a Chicago rooftop. It’s the first real wrestling show we’ve had since the shutdown went into effect.
6. Garry Tonon: Does what Garry Tonon does, wins via heel hook, as he did in the co-main event of Fight To Win 145 over Osvaldo Queixinho Moizinho.
7. Roberto Jimenez: Won the one-night, eight-man under-180lb tournament at Third Coast Grappling’s third KUMITE show.
8. Jason Moloney: Looked tremendous in stopping Leonardo Baez in the seventh-round on Thursday’s Top Rank card. Mixed bag for the Moloney twins this week.
9. Pat Lugo: Lugo was a Big Ten champion at 149lb from Iowa, Luke Pletcher was a Big Ten champion at 141lb from Ohio State, and both were #1 in their respective weight classes before losing their senior seasons due to the pandemic. They faced off at Rumble on the Rooftop, with Lugo pitching a 5-0 shutout of Pletcher.
10. Mike Perry: Picked up a much-needed win over Mickey Gall in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN to avoid dropping a third-straight loss in a fight that wasn’t as close as the judges had it.
11. Julian Erosa: Pulled off the biggest upset of the weekend, coming in on very short notice to battle unbeaten Sean Woodson on the main card of UFC on ESPN, finishing him with a D’Arce choke, earning a cool 50k bonus for his efforts.
12. Danny Sabatello: The Titan FC bantamweight title was up for grabs between Sabatello and Raymond Ramos, and it lasted less than two minutes before a rear-naked choke was locked and Sabatello’s hand was raised as the new champion for Titan at 135lbs.
13. Henrikas Viksraitis: The King of Kings lightweight champion moved up in weight to 75kg to battle Denis Makowski, and came away with a unanimous decision in the main event of KOK:Classic.
14. Joe Rau: It was Greco Roman vs. Freestyle at Rumble on the Rooftop, as respective U.S. team members Rau and Pat Downey battled, with Greco Roman team member Rau coming out the victor, 9-4.
15. Miguel Berchelt: The Saturday late-night can crushing continued with another edition from Top Rank, this time in the main event, Berchelt toppling Eleazer Valenzuela. However, this card wasn’t sanctioned by the Mexico City Boxing Commission, so we’ll wait and see if this even counted.
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