Fighters of the Week

  1. Oscar Valdez: Valdez turned in the performance of a lifetime against Miguel Berchelt Saturday night in claiming Berchelt’s long-held WBC title at junior lightweight, capping it off with a VICIOUS knockout that left Berchelt down for an extended period and stretchered off. I couldn’t help but being reminded of the awful, awful night that Maxim Dadashev died after sustaining a hellish beating, but Berchelt seems to be recovering well.

  2. Derrick Lewis: Every wrestler knows the risk. When you shoot in for that takedown, like Curtis Blaydes lives and dies with, you either risk getting caught in a guillotine choke or catching an uppercut. Lewis opted for the latter, and delivered a killshot from the basement to lay Blaydes out cold and bank an absolutely monster win to put him in the thick of title contention in the heavyweight division.

  3. David Avanesyan: After nearly three years, his feud with Josh Kelly appears to be wrapped up, as Avanesyan forced Kelly’s corner to throw in the towel in the sixth round, as he successfully defended his European welterweight strap.

  4. Otto Wallin: Wallin, who came very, very close to becoming the heavyweight champion after opening up a massive cut on Tyson Fury, took care of business Saturday, handing two-time world title challenger Dominic Breazeale his third-career loss on Showtime.

  5. Yana Kunitskaya: Coming in as a 2.5-to-1 underdog, she neutralized the vicious Ketlen Vieira and taking a unanimous 29-28 x3 victory in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night Saturday.

6. Gavin Gwynne: Owner of the biggest upset victory of the weekend, Gwynne came in to a showcase for Sean McComb as a +650 underdog and ended up scoring a knockout victory and a Commonwealth championship.

7. Vagner Rocha: In a main event battle of two iconic BJJ heavyweights, Rocha got the best of Yuri Simoes by decision.

8. Gabriel Flores Jr: Passed the test from journeyman Jayson Velez, stopping him and remaining his undefeated record in the co-main of Berchelt/Valdez on ESPN Saturday night.

9. Peter Stanonik: The Bellator and Glory vet won the XFN eight-man welterweight tournament to remain unbeaten in pro kickboxing.

10. Adrien Broner: Won his first bout in just over four years, and while Jovanie Santiago isn’t exactly a championship gatekeeper, just banking a win means Broner will start to talk himself up as the heir to Sugar Ray Robinson.

11. Victor Altamirano: Gave Nate Smith just about no room, as he absolutely suffocated him en route to a wide victory over five rounds on the scorecards to claim the LFA Flyweight title.

12. Chris Daukaus: Didn’t fall into Aleksei Oleinik’s submission trap and TKO’d the Ukranian veteran.

13. Samuel Antwi: The new BBBofC English Welterweight champ after a sixth-round upset knockout of Darren Tetley on Friday’s UK card.

14. Gabriel Souza: Pulled off a bit of an upset, defeating BJJ ace Gianni Grippo by decision at Fight To Win 164.

15. Darrick Winner: Proved he wasn’t just a one-trick pony either living or dying by the submission by taking a wide UD over Charles Rosa on the main card on UFC Fight Night.