Hello fight fans, it’s the end of another work week, which means it is time to watch combat sports! This weekend looks fairly decent, with a double-shot of upper level MMA as Bellator and UFC have shows. There aren’t any titles at stake, but there is the potential for some title shots to be earned, which is always exciting.
FRIDAY
Bellator 148 isn’t the most star-studded card, nor is it full of title fights, or white-hot blue chip prospects. It’s just a solid card, with the potential for some very good fights on deck. The prelims, starting at 7:45PM on Bellator and Spike.com, in true Belaltor fashion, don’t boast a ton of name recognition, even for me, but I do spy Ilima MacFarlane, known around the Uproxx Sports e-water cooler as THE DESTROYER OF SOCCER MOMS.
On the main card, beginning at 9PM ET on Spike TV, Patricky “Pitbull” Freire (The less good Pitbull Bro) is taking on Ryan “Randy’s Dumb Weiner Kid” Couture. We’ve also got Paul “Semtex” Daley bringing his big punching power against Andy Uhrich.
SATURDAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WV3Ja1SR5I
The early prelims for Fight Night Newark kick off at 3:30PM ET on Fight Pass, which doesn’t really make this a Fight “Night”, does it? Anyway, the online bouts should be okay. Randy Brown, who was discovered on Dana White’s “Looking for a Fight” reality show makes his promotional debut, as he takes on Matt Dwyer. There’s also a weird cross-over with Animal Fight Club, as Damon “The Leech” Jackson faces Levan “Hornet” Makashvilli in featherweight action.
The regular prelims will be on Fox Sports 1, starting at 5PM ET. This is a solid slab of punch-mens action, starting with the return of Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres. These prelims also feature an exciting flyweight bout between Dustin Ortiz and Wilson Reis. The final preliminary contest is a welterweight clash between kickboxer Tarec Saffiedine and a wrestler with a ton of power, Jake Ellenberger. (You can see this repeated next week in the main event of UFC 196.)
The main card will be on Fox, and it starts at 8PM ET with an episode of Seventh Heaven come to life, Sage Northcutt, going up to welterweight to face Bryan Barberena. There’s also bantamweights throwing down as Iuri Alcantara faces Jimmie Rivera.
The co-main event is an epic clash of BEEF BOYZ as former UFC heavyweight champ Josh “The Warmaster” Barnett puts his Magic: The Gathering cards and catch wrestling skills up against former IFL heavyweight champ “Big” Ben Rothwell, who brings evil laughter and awkward dancing to the table. I am so very excited but also nervous for this bout since I well and truly like both men.
The main event is the exact opposite, as light heavyweights Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Ryan “Darth” Bader face each other, with a title shot probably on the line. Rumble has a domestic violence conviction and several other accusations on his record, while I still can’t believe that Bader, the man that gave Tito Ortiz his only win in a nine fights, is now unbeaten for over two years, having won his last five. The winner probably gets a shot at the light heavyweight title after Jon Jones makes Daniel Cormier cry and takes his belt back in the spring.