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 May 18
7:00am: The Battle Muay Thai (Facebook)
7:00am: OneFC: Unstoppable Dreams Prelims (Facebook/YouTuve)
8:30am: OneFC: Unstoppable Dreams (OneFC App)
11:00am: Number One Fight Show Season Nine ($9.00 EliteBoxing.tv)
11:00am: 2018 Senior Freestyle World Team Trials (FloWrestling)
4:00pm: UFC Fight Night Weigh-Ins (Fox Sports 2/UFC Fight Pass)
5:00pm: 2018 Senior Freestyle World Team Trials (FloWrestling)
8:00pm: RISE Submission Invitational 4 (FloGrappling)
9:00pm: Cageside: 400 (AXS)
Saturday May 19
4:00am: Bob Rose Cup ($14.99 Fite.tv)
5:00am: Aftershock MMA 29: Challengers ($14.99 Fite.tv)
8:00am: 2018 Journeymen/Cliff Keen World Classic and Duals (FloWrestling)
11:00am: 2018 Senior Freestyle World Team Trials (FloWrestling)
11:00am: Fight Nights Global 87 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
12:00pm: Boss Art Championships ($9.99 Fite.tv)
1:00pm: Absolute Championship Berkut 87 (YouTube)
1:00pm: Superior Challenge 17 ($9.99 Fite.tv)
5:00pm: 2018 Senior Freestyle World Team Trials (FloWrestling)
5:00pm: Josh Warrington vs. Lee Selby (YouTube)
6:00pm: New League Fights Presents X ($12.99 Fite.tv)
6:30pm: UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Usman Prelims (UFC Fight Pass)
7:00pm: UFC Fight Night Pre-Fight Show (Fox Sports 2)
8:00pm: UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Usman Prelims (Fox Sports 2)
8:00pm: Nico Hernandez vs. Szilveszter Kanalas/Andrey Afonin vs. Pedro Rodriguez ($19.99 Fite.tv)
9:00pm: Fight To Win Pro 75 (FloGrappling)
9:00pm: XFO Rocktown Showdown 63 ($14.99 Fite.tv)
10:00pm: UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Usman (Fox Sports 1)
10:05pm: Adonis Stevenson vs. Badou Jack/Gary Russell Jr. vs. Joseph Diaz (Showtime)
Sunday May 20
1:00am: UFC Fight Night Post-Fight Show (Fox Sports 1)
3:00am: Pancrase 296 (UFC Fight Pass)
8:00am: 2018 Journeymen/Cliff Keen World Classic and Duals (FloWrestling)
Top-10 Viewing Options: A man whose hockey team was eliminated for the first time in over two years attempts to navigate the depressing bottomless void with some violence.
1. Adonis Stevenson vs. Badou Jack/Gary Russell Jr. vs. Joseph Diaz: Showtime going bi-country again, splitting up two great title bouts on the same card. Well done.
2. OneFC: Unstoppable Dreams: ONE has an absolutely awesome card, and they’re getting into the WWE Network/Fight Pass game of having their own mobile app to stream their shows. The reviews are mostly good, 4.7 on Android, and it’s free. Solid work on their end.
3. UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Usman: UFC’s first forays into new countries are pretty much always garbage cards because they’ll sell anyway, and this venture into Chile follows that plan.
4. Josh Warrington vs. Lee Selby: Ducky of Showtime to have this on YouTube, and there are some pretty solid undercard fights on the card they’ll hopefully show.
5. Pancrase 296: Very, very nice card, including a fantastic main event for a King of Pancrase championship between Masakatsu Ueda and Rafael Silva.
6. Absolute Championship Berkut 87: God bless those crazy folks at ACB for pumping out free cards with good fighters all the time.
7. RISE Submission Invitational 4: Not quite as loaded as their other cards, but like F2W, consistency is the name of the game in grappling cards.
8. Fight To Win Pro 75: See above.
9. Fight Nights Global 87: ACB has definitely passed FNG in the European MMA game, and Fight Nights charge for their cards, which are still good, and this one is one of their better offerings.
10. Cageside: 400: In the lead up to the 400th episode in AXS’s fourteenth year in the fight business, Ron Kruk, Pat Miletich, Bas Rutten, Kenny Rice, and more staples from the history of HDNet/AXS comment on the history and moments of their history.
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. 61.2kg Bout: Joseph Lasiri vs. Singtongnoi Por Telakum [OneFC: Unstoppable Dreams]
4. WKN International Middleweight Championship: Martin Velasco vs. Avelina Soaeres [Simply The Best 19]
3. WKN International Cruiserweight Championship: Cristian Bosch vs. Ricardo Perea [Simply The Best 19]
2. 72.5kg Bout: Chris Ngimbi (45-24) vs. Yodsanklai Fairtex (198-71-4) [OneFC: Unstoppable Dreams]
1. One Super Series Flyweight Bout: Sam-a Gayanghadao vs. Sergio Wielzen (46-18-2) [OneFC: Unstoppable Dreams]
BOXING
5. Vacant IBA World Flyweight Championship: Nico Hernandez (4-0) vs. Szilveszter Kanalas (14-7) [Knockout Night Boxing]
4. IBF/WBA World Junior Flyweight Championships: Ryoichi Taguchi (c) (27-2-2) vs. Hekkie Budler (31-3) [Watanabe Promotions]
3. IBF World Featherweight Championship: Lee Selby (c) (26-1) vs. Josh Warrington (26-0) [BT Sport/Showtime]
2. WBC World Light Heavyweight Championship: Adonis Stevenson (c) (29-1) vs. Badou Jack (22-1-2) [Showtime Championship Boxing]
1. WBC World Featherweight Championship: Gary Russell Jr. (c) (28-1) vs. Joseph Diaz (26-0) [Showtime Championship Boxing]
MMA
5. Women’s Strawweight Bout: Alexa Grasso (10-1) vs. Tatiana Suarez (5-0) [UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Usmaru]
4. Light Heavyweight Bout: Fabio Maldonado (24-11) vs. Nikita Krylov (23-5) [Fight Nights Global 87]
3. OneFC Women’s Strawweight Championship: Angela Lee (c) (8-0) vs. Mei Yamaguchi (17-10-1) [OneFC: Unstoppable Dreams]
2. OneFC Featherweight Championship: Martin Nguyen (c) (10-2) vs. Christian Lee (9-1) [OneFC: Unstoppable Dreams]
1. Welterweight Bout: Demian Maia (25-8) vs. Kamaru Usman (12-1) [UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Usman]
GRAPPLING/WRESTLING
5. Black Belt Medium-Heavyweight Division Tournament [IBJJF Salvador Fall International Open]
4. 135lb Black Belt Bout: Alex Ecklin vs. Nick Pace [RISE Submission Invitational 4]
3. 170lb Black Belt Championship Bout: Jason Rau vs. Mike Padilla [RISE Submission Invitational 4]
2. 140lb Black Belt Bout: Baret Yoshida vs. Paulo Cezar [Fight To Win Pro 75]
1. 185lb Black Belt Bout: DJ Jackson vs. Thomas Keenan [Fight To Win Pro 75]
Bold, Yet Probably Fruitless Predictions: A man one a solid run of being just one win away from turning a profit for three weeks in a row fully believes, against all odds, that he’ll pull it off. I won’t.
Best Fight of the Weekend: Josh Warrington vs. Lee Selby
Most Underrated Fight of the Weekend: Alexa Grasso vs. Tatiana Suarez
If My Life Depended on One Pick: Leon Woodstock over Edwin Tellez
Best Card Top-to-Bottom: OneFC: Unstoppable Dreams
Upset of the Week: Brandon Moreno over Alexandre Pantoja
Most Disappointing Fight of the Weekend: Demian Maia vs. Kamaru Usman
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