Hey fight fans! This weekend is packed full of action, with all sorts of punches, kicks, chokes, locks, and slams! Let’s find out what’s going on when so everyone is prepared for a two-day Live Discussion!
FRIDAY
The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale
I am super pumped for this card, y’all! TUF 20 was a great season of The Ultimate Fighter, and now we are at the live finale and the card is packed with rad strawweight action. Things kick off at 6:00 PM ET on Fight Pass, with Angela Hill taking on Emily Kagan and Aisling Daly fighting Alex Chambers. On Fox Sports 1 at 7:00 PM ET, the regular prelims begin with four more strawweight fights. There’s Tecia Torres taking on Angela Magana, Joanne Calderwood facing tiny Seo Hee Ham, bitter rivals Bec Rawlings fights Heather Jo Clark, and Felice Herrig stops taking selfies long enough to fight Lisa Ellis.
The main card will stay on Fox Sports 1, and the action kicks off at 9:00 PM ET. Jessica Penne and Randa Markos square off as the losing semi-finalists, and then we move on to some Dude Fights. Next up is a pair of lightweight scraps as Joe Proctor faces Yancy Medeiros and Karl James Noons fights Daron Cruickshank. The co-main event is a featherweight bout between Jeremy Stephens and the overweight Charles Oliveira.
The main event will be a five round fight to determine the first ever UFC Strawweight champion. Former Invicta title holder and the #1 ranked fighter on TUF 20, Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza brings her wrestling singlet to the table against #7 “Thug” Rose Namajunas. That should be a really good fight!
SATURDAY
Things start off early here, as the Fight Pass prelims begin at 3:30 PM ET. Wrestling mega-star Henry Cejudo will be making his debut, so if you like single legs, check that out! The regular prelims will be on Fox Sports 1 at 5:00 PM ET. I’m really looking forward to Joe Riggs fighting Ben Saunders. The main draw, though is the People’s Main event as two undefeated strawweights, Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk square off, with the winner potentially becoming the first challenger to Friday’s strawweight champion.
The main card will be on Fox, starting at 8:00 PM ET. Friday’s fights don’t have anyone over 155 pounds, so the main card here has three heavyweight bouts, as Matt Mitrione fights Gabe Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem welcomes Stefan Struve back to the octagon, and in the main event, Junior Dos Santos clashes with Stipe Miocic. That should be a good crop of fights!
Also on Saturday night is the return of the World Series of Fighting. Prelims start at 7:00 PM on MMAJunkie.com, and I don’t know who any of those dudes are. The main card will begin at 9:00 PM ET on NBC Sports, and there are two titles at stake. Rich Glenn is putting his featherweight belt on the line against Lance Palmer, while welterweight champion Rousimar Palhares defends against Jon Fitch. That should be an interesting matchup.
BOXING
There is also apparently HBO and Showtime Boxing on Saturday night. Tim Bradley fights Diego Chaves on HBO starting at 10:00 PM, while Devon Alexander and Amir Khan square off on Showtime at 9:00 PM ET. I don’t know much about boxing, but I’ll probably try to watch some of those fights.
