Hey. fight fans. We’ve got a big, mega-huge weekend full of title fights of all kinds. Let’s jump right into the fisticuffs going on Friday, Saturday and even Sunday!
FRIDAY
Bellator 138 will kick off with prelims at 7 p.m. EST on Spike.com, and there are a few former TUF contestants on that portion of the card. Adam Cella, the man Uriah Hall spin kicked to oblivion is there, plus Justin Lawrence, who I thought would be kind of good, is also on the prelim fights.
The main-card will begin at 9 p.m. EST on Spike TV with a heavyweight clash as Bobby Lashley takes on Dan Charles. Lashley was scheduled to rematch James “The Colossus” Thompson, but Big J.T. suffered an injury, so Charles is stepping up on short notice. There’s also former champ Daniel Straus taking on undefeated Henry Corrales at featherweight, another former title holder in Michael Chandler facing Derek Campos at lightweight, and a featherweight title fight between champ Patricio Freire and Daniel Weichel. There aren’t any official Bellator predictions (yet), but I’ll prognosticate that the winners will be Lashley, Straus, Chandler and Weichel.
The main-event is an epic clash as 41-year-old Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson takes on 51-year-old “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock, as they bring their combined 92 years of life to bear against each other in a fight that’s seven years in the making. This will be nuts.
SATURDAY
UFC is in Germany for a title fight, that’s kind of crazy! UFC Fight Night 69 (nice) will be exclusively on Fight Pass, starting with prelims at 12 p.m. EST. While the prelims don’t have a ton of well-known names, fights like Niklas Backstrom vs. Noad Lahat at featherweight and Mairbek Taisumov taking on Alan Patrick at lightweight will be solid. Plus, we get the return of “Mr. Finland” Makwan Amirkhani. Yes!
The main-card of UFC Fight Night will begin at 3 p.m. EST, and there are four fights on the top portion of the card. Some of the fights sound interesting, like the undefeated Lukasz Sajewski meeting Nick Hein at lightweight, but the co-main and main-event bouts look to be the better contests.
Dennis Siver faces Tatsuya Kawajiri in a featherweight clash, while the new Strawweight Champion, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, defends her belt against Jessica Penne.
Starting at 8:30 p.m. EST, Premier Boxing Champions presents two solid fights on NBC. Stepping in on short-notice, Phil “The Italian Sensation” Lo Greco takes on the hard-hitting and undefeated Errol “The Truth” Spence, Jr. The main-event is a clash between two once-beaten fighters, as “Showtime” Shawn Porter takes on Adrien “The Problem” Broner.
Roc Nation Sports: Throne Boxing
At 10 p.m. EST on BET, Andre “Son of God” Ward returns to action, putting his undefeated record on the line against Paul “Real Gone Kid” Smith. Ward hasn’t fought since 2013, so it will be interesting to see how the ring rust affects him.
SUNDAY
Finally, on Sunday, we have more PBC action as CBS hosts two solid bouts starting at 4 p.m. EST. First up, undefeated Sammy Vasquez takes on Wale Omotoso, and both men boast knockout rates above 70 percent. The main-event will see undefeated Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy facing Antonio DeMarco. I’m not well-versed in boxing, so these guys aren’t that familiar to me, but I think these fights should be interesting.
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That’s a lot of combat sports action, and you can talk about every punch, kick, knee, elbow, throw, slam, take down and submission right here with the handsome and charming Uproxx Sports crew!