Fresh off an eye-opening win over Jon Fitch, Josh Burkman will officially face Steve Carl in a match to determine the World Series of Fighting’s first welterweight champion on Oct. 26 at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables Fla.
MMA Fighting was the first to report the fight.
WSOF 6 will air live on NBC Sports Network at 9 p.m. Eastern time, a time slot upgrade from previous shows that have started later in the evening.
Burkman (26-9), is coming off a June 14 win over Fitch with a guillotine choke in 41 seconds. The win was stunning since Fitch hadn’t been submitted in competition since 2002. Fitch, considered one of the top welterweights in the world, and who had submitted Burkman in 2006 in a UFC bout, was the most controversial UFC release in years. He was expected to dominate in whatever organization signed him.
But Burkman, a former junior college All-American running back, got the jump on Fitch, knocking him down and submitting him for his eighth win in his last nine outings. It was Burkman’s fourth consecutive win over a former UFC fighter.
Carl (20-3) is a former Marine with 15 submission wins to his credit. He’s appeared on two previous WSOF shows, scoring wins with rear-naked chokes over Ramico Blackmon in 2:11, and Tyson Steele in 1:32.
“We’ve been looking forward to making our debut in Florida for some time now, and I’m proud to say we will be in Coral Gables on Oct. 26,” said WSOF President Ray Sefo. “Our headliner will see us award either Josh Burkman or Steve Carl the first championship belt in our promotion’s history, and I think that match up will be something special. The whole lineup we’re planning will be fantastic, and I look forward to making more announcements very soon.”
Two other main card matches were announced, featuring two fighters who have built their names on recent WSOF shows, bantamweight Marlon Moraes and lightweight Justin Gaethje.
Moraes (11-4-1) faces Carson Beebe (14-2). Moraes, a Muay Thai specialist from Brazil, scored what was considered a major upset when he took apart former WEC champion Miguel Angel Torres in his WSOF debut. He’s followed with wins over Tyson Nam and Brandon Hempleman.
Beebe, the younger brother of former WEC champion Chase Beebe, has won nine of his last 10 bouts.
Justin Gaethje (9-0), will face Dan Lauzon (17-4), the younger brother of UFC star Joe Lauzon.
Gaethje, at 24, made his first national name on March 23 when he finished J.Z. Cavalcante in just 2:33 via doctor stoppage. He followed with a June 14 win over Brian Cobb, using leg kicks, which was his eighth finish in nine career bouts.