Tim B takes a brief look at a WSOF 27 card that isn’t very strong on paper.
World Series of Fighting returns tonight with a card that might not have hardcore fans on the edge of their seat. After a string events with title fights or a tournament, tonight’s event is dubbed “Future Champs”, which means a prospect-heavy card. Sort of.
The headliner was going to see Mike Ricci take on Caros Fodor, but Ricci got injured and was removed from the card. He was replaced by Luiz Firmino, and the bout with Fodor was moved to the co-main event, with a light heavyweight fight between Teddy Holder and Shamil Gamzatov promoted to the top spot. Until yesterday, when Ray Sefo said that Fodor/Firmino was the main event.
Got all that? Good. Let’s take a brief look at the fights now. By the way, the card goes down in the Comerica Theatre in Phoenix. The prelims will be streamed live here on Bloody Elbow, and kick off around 8:30pm ET (there are only three prelim fights – yeah, it’s weird). The main card kicks off at 10pm ET on NBC Sports Network.
Luiz Firmino vs. Caros Fodor – Your “Future Champs” headliner is a 33-year-old who hasn’t fought in a year and a half against a 32-year-old UFC and ONE veteran who is making his WSOF debut. Firmino is on a five-fight winning streak and does have two wins in two WSOF fights. They were over respectable names too – Tyson Griffin and Jacob Volkmann. Fodor probably has the more well-rounded game, but Firmino has the ability to decision a lot of good fighters. Honestly, I’m not expecting a ton of fireworks here.
Prediction: Caros Fodor by decision
Teddy Holder vs. Shamil Gamzatov – Holder burst on the WSOF scene by knocking out Thiago Silva as a late replacement and sizable underdog. He came back down to earth quickly however, getting submitted by an undersized David Branch in a little over two minutes in September. Gamzatov is an undefeated Dagestani prospect who has never gone the distance. I don’t think you need to be Nostradamus to figure out who’s taking this one.
Prediction: Shamil Gamzatov by submission, round 1
Rest of the main card: