Oh, there’s plenty to watch this weekend. Best believe.
Now that most MMA organizations have made inroads to set up more events on a consistent basis, it’s not that surprising that we’ll have a weekend that has as much action as this one. With prospects stateside and veterans on the international scene, you’ll find something to scratch your itch for pugilistic exploits.
Friday night is LFA night, as the little company that could continues to churn out quality prospects left and right. This time it’s back to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to crown a new welterweight king.
Jaleel Willis (12-2) meets Vinicius “The Brazilian Bad Boy“ De Jesus (9-2) for the belt as the previous title was vacated by Jason Jackson in July 2019 after he left the company for Bellator. De Jesus has a sneaky right right and snapping leg kicks, while being patient with his striking and packing dynamite for his finishes. Willis has the ability to swarm opponents and keep constant pressure with offense in any position he finds himself in, doing damage with his power.
Former Bellator and PFL fighter Andre Fialho (10-3) also returns to action against FactoryX’s Austin “Osmosis“ Jones (8-5), and Nova União lightweight Glaucio Elizario (9-5) meets Oklahoma’s Aaron McKenzie (7-2, 1 draw). Syndicate product Natan Levy (4-0) aims to keep his record intact as he faces Ben Lugo (5-3), who has finished opponents in all of his wins.
LFA 88: Willis vs De Jesus takes place Friday night, starting at 9:00pm and streaming exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.
Hey, you like weird stuff, right? You’re in luck! Full Metal Dojo is back with a all-around mishmash of a card with different rulesets.
If you’re not familiar with FMD, you need to change that. It’s nuts.
Along with the main event being for something called the “King of Kebab“ title, here’s bare-knuckle with headbutts, Muay Thai, MMA rules, even a pro fighter fighting two non-professionals and some openweight action. The event streams live and free via FightCircus.com, with donations that will go to COVID relief as an option.
Not much in notable names, but you can check out the lineup here.
Full Metal Dojo’s FightCircus starts Saturday at 10pm EST, streaming live and free on FightCircus.com
DEEP returns with back to back events for Saturday and Sunday nights. DEEP 95 Impact should be the more unusual of the two. Main event honors go to Reina Miura facing Marina Kumagai in a kickboxing match. That’s preceded by former Pancrase and UFC fighter Daichi Abe (6-4) against former Shooto and longtime DEEP vet Yoichiro Sato (21-11, 2 draws), currently off back to back losses.
Part-time pro wrestler and full time spectacle Hideki “Shrek“ Sekine (8-4) brings his hulking frame and grappling experience back to the DEEP cage as he is set to duel against fellow big boy Ryo Sakai (8-10)
The following night is a much more measured affair, as the main event for that one is for the men’s strawweight championship. Haruo Ochi (19-8, 2 draws, 1 no contest) had a seven-fight win streak stopped due to an accidental headbutt no-conterst against Jarred Brooks at RIZIN 18, followed by a decision loss in their Bellator rematch. Now he’s looking to defend his title in DEEP against Namiki Kawahara (6-3, 2 draws, 1 no contest). Kawahara just got over a terrible stretch of two losses, a draw and a no-contest by beating the brakes off Jun Nakamura last November.
DEEP 95 Impact takes place live from Tokyo Saturday night at 11:00pm EST for those of us stateside, while DEEP 96 is the following night, Sunday at midnight.
Finally, Pancrase has bad news and good news. The bad news is that they’re no longer on Fight Pass with English commentary. The good news? They’ll be streaming live and free as of this weekend starting with Pancrase 317. The main event for this one should be an action banger with two do-or-die featherweights ast Taichi Nakajima (14-11, 1 draw) meets one-time UFC fighter and Pancrase mainstay Yoshinori Horie (9-2).
Flyweight gets some representation as Ryuichi Miki (21-12, 4 draws) faces Yosuke Ogikubo (11-1-). Another former UFC fighter, Issei Tamura (13-10), takes on submission ace Yuki Takahashi (8-2).
Pancrase 317 starts Saturday night into Sunday morning at 2:45am EST, and will be available free and live on YouTube with Japanese commentary only.