Ringside Seats

Upcoming MMA Matchups of Note

***Card and dates subject to change. Click on the matchup for preview.***

November 3, UFC 230 (PPV)
UFC Heavyweight Championship (205+ lb)
:(1) Daniel Cormier (c) (United States) vs. (3) Derrick Lewis (United States)
Middleweight (185 lb)(5) Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (Brazil) vs. (7) Chris Weidman (United States)

November 10, UFC Fight Night 139 (FS1)
Flyweight (125 lb): (4) Joseph Benavidez (United States) vs. (5) Ray Borg (United States)

November 24, UFC Fight Night 141 (FS1)
Heavyweight (205+ lb): (6) Francis Ngannou (Cameroon) vs. (7) Curtis Blaydes (United States)

November 30, UFC Ultimate Fighter Finale (FS1)
Welterweight: (3) Rafael dos Anjos (Brazil) vs. (9) Kamaru Usman (Nigeria)

December 8, UFC 231 (PPV)
UFC Featherweight Championship (145 lb): (1) Max Holloway (c) (United States) vs. (2) Brian Ortega (United States)
Vacant UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship (125 lb): (1) Valentina Shevchenko (Kyrgyzstan) vs. (2) [Women’s Strawweight] Joanna Jedrzejczyk (Poland)

December 15, Invicta FC 33 (UFC Fight Pass)
Women’s Atomweight (105 lb)(4) Jinh Yu Frey (United States) vs. (9) Minna Grusander (Finland)

December 29, UFC 232 (PPV)
Vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (205 lb): (2) Alexander Gustafsson (Sweden) vs. (NR) Jon Jones (United States)
UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship (145 lb): (1) Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (c) (Brazil) vs. (1) [Women’s Bantamweight] Amanda Nunes (Brazil)
Light Heavyweight (205 lb): (9) Ilir Latifi (Sweden) vs. (10) Corey Anderson (United States)
Women’s Featherweight (145 lb): (5) Megan Anderson (Australia) vs. (6) [Women’s Bantamweight] Cat Zingano (United States)


Ongoing Fight of the Year Rankings

***Rankings based on excitement, competitiveness, technical skill, and activity, but not necessarily in that order. I won’t rank anything that I don’t believe to be worth watching, so average or lackluster fights will not place. This is not meant to be comprehensive; I will only be ranking those fights which I have seen. I have a lot of stuff on my plate to watch at any one time, so some fights of note may be missing.  Lots of prelim and international fights in my queue.  The rankings may also change throughout the year based on reevaluations or second viewings.***

1 Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje – UFC on Fox 29 (4/14)
2 Tony Ferguson vs. Anthony Pettis – UFC 229 (10/6)
3 Calvin Kattar vs. Shane Burgos – UFC 220 (1/20)
4 Drew Dober vs. Frank Camacho – UFC on Fox 27 (1/27)
5 Darren Elkins vs. Michael Johnson – UFC Fight Night 124 (1/14)
6 Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero- UFC 225 (7/9)
7 Merab Dvalishvili vs. Ricky Simon – UFC Fight Night 128 (4/21)
8 Pedro Munhoz vs. Brett Johns – UFC 227 (8/4)
9 Rose Namajunas vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk- UFC 223 (4/7)
10 Irene Aldana vs. Lucie Pudilova – UFC 228 (9/8)
11 Mamed Khalidov vs. Tomasz Narkun – KSW 42 (3/3)
12 Uriah Hall vs. Paulo Costa – UFC 226 (7/7)
13 Thiago Santos vs. Anthony Smith – UFC Fight Night 125 (2/3)
14 Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Kyle Bochniak – UFC 223 (4/7)
15 Petr Yan vs. Jin Soo Son – UFC Fight Night 136 (9/15)
16 Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo – UFC 227 (8/4)
17 Thiago Santos vs. Eryk Anders – UFC Fight Night (9/22)
18 John Makdessi vs. Ross Pearson – UFC on Fox 30 (7/28)
19 Jake Matthews vs. Li Jingliang – UFC 221 (2/10)
20 Jimi Manuwa vs. Jan Blachowicz – UFC Fight Night 127 (3/17)
21 Mike Perry vs. Max Griffin – UFC on FOX 28 (2/24)
22 Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier – UFC on Fox 30 (7/28)
23 Jacare Souza vs. Kelvin Gastelum – UFC 224 (5/12)
24 Jessica Andrade vs. Tecia Torres – UFC on Fox 28 (2/24)
25 Mike Perry vs. Paul Felder – UFC 226 (7/7)
26 Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens – UFC on Fox 30 (7/28)
27 Gerald Meerschaert vs. Oskar Piechota – The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale (7/6)
28 Jeremy Stephens vs. Doo Ho Choi – UFC Fight Night 124 (1/14)
29 Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Felice Herrig – UFC 223 (4/7)
30 Sarah Moras vs. Lucie Pudilova – UFC Fight Night 126 (2/18)
31 Erik Koch vs. Bobby Green – UFC on Fox 27 (1/27)
32 Thibault Gouti vs. Nasrat Haqparast – UFC Fight Night 138 (10/27)
33 John Lineker vs. Brian Kelleher – UFC 224 (5/12)
34 Rolando Dy vs. Shane Young – UFC Fight Night 132 (6/23)
35 Wilson Reis vs. John Moraga – UFC on FOX 29 (4/14)
36 Jeremy Stephens vs. Josh Emmett – UFC on FOX 28 (2/24)
37 Tomas Deak vs. Sharamazan Shupanov – Fight Nights Global 84 (3/2)
38 Claudio Puelles vs. Felipe Silva – UFC Fight Night 129 (5/19)
39 Renan Barao vs. Brian Kelleher – UFC on FOX 28 (2/24)
40 Michel Pereira vs. Hae Jun Yang – ROAD FC 48 (7/28)
41 Cory Sandhagen vs. Iuri Alcantara – UFC Fight Night 135 (8/25)
42 Alex Caceres vs. Martin Bravo – The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale (7/6)
43 Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir – UFC 220 (1/20)
44 Shana Dobson vs. Lauren Mueller – UFC on FOX 29 (4/14)
45 Glaico Franca vs. Takashi Sato – Pancrase 297 (7/1)
46 Sean O’Malley vs. Andre Soukhamthath – UFC 222 (3/3)
47 Natan Schulte vs. Chris Wade – PFL 9 (10/13)
48 Ben Saunders vs. Alan Jouban – UFC on FOX 28 (2/24)
49 Oleg Popov vs. Adam Bogatirov – M-1 95 (7/21)
50 Senzo Ikeda vs. Yuya Wakamatsu – Pancrase 293 (2/4)


Upcoming Kickboxing Matchups of Note

***Card and dates subject to change***

Glory 62: Rotterdam, December 8 (ESPN)
8-Man Glory Heavyweight Tournament (209.4+ lb): Featuring: (2) Benjamin Adegbuyi (Romania); (6) Jamal Ben Saddik (Belgium); (7) Guto Inocente (Brazil); etc.

K-1 World GP 2018 Japan, December 8
8-Man K-1 Lightweight Grand Prix (143.3 lb): Featuring (2) Koya Urabe (Japan); (5) Gonnapar Weerasakreck (Thailand); etc.


Upcoming Boxing Matches of Note

***Card and dates subject to change. Click on the matchup for preview. Television access listed where available. International match ups not shown on American television can often be found on YouTube soon after the completion of the fight.***

November 3
Bantamweight (118 lb): (3) Ryan Burnett (United Kingdom) vs. (10) [Featherweight] Nonito Donaire (Philippines)

November 3, ESPN+
Super Featherweight (130 lb): (1) Miguel Berchelt (Mexico) vs. (4) Miguel Roman (Mexico)

November 10
Cruiserweight (200 lb): (5) Krzysztof Glowacki (Poland) vs. (6) Maksim Vlasov (Russia)

November 10
Cruiserweight (200 lb): (1) Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine) vs. (3) Tony Bellew (United Kingdom)

November 24, HBO
Light Heavyweight (175 lb): (4) Dmitry Bivol (Kyrgyzstan) vs. (9) Jean Pascal (Haiti)

December 1, Showtime
Light Heavyweight (175 lb): (2) Adonis Stevenson (Haiti) vs. (6) Oleksandr Gvozdyk (Ukraine)

December 1, Showtime
Heavyweight (200+ lb): (2) Deontay Wilder (United States) vs. (5) Tyson Fury (United Kingdom)

December 8, ESPN
Lightweight (135 lb): (1) Vasiliy Lomachenko (Ukraine) vs. (4) Jose Pedraza (Puerto Rico)

December 15, DAZN
Super Middleweight (168 lb): (1) Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (Mexico) [Middleweight] vs. (6) Rocky Fielding (United Kingdom)

December 22, ESPN+
Featherweight (126 lb): (3) Carl Frampton (United Kingdom) vs. (6) Josh Warrington (United Kingdom)

 

Written by Mark

A gentleman and a scholar.