It may not have been the barnburner that we hoped it would be, but Tyrone Spong improved his MMA record to 2-0 in the main event of last night’s WSoF 4 by earning a unanimous decision over Angel DeAnda.
Spong fought smart, utilizing leg kicks throughout the fight while avoiding DeAnda’s heavy hands for most of the fight. To DeAnda’s credit, he was never dropped by Spong, but he also never mounted any significant offense. At least I don’t think he did; one of the judges scored this fight 29-28.
Okay, so it wasn’t exactly the most exciting fight in recent memory. Fortunately, the rest of the WSoF 4 main card made up for the disappointment that was the main event. After the jump, there’s also videos of a knockout and submission for your viewing pleasure.
(Tyrone Spong vs Angel DeAnda.)
It may not have been the barnburner that we hoped it would be, but Tyrone Spong improved his MMA record to 2-0 in the main event of last night’s WSoF 4 by earning a unanimous decision over Angel DeAnda.
Spong fought smart, utilizing leg kicks throughout the fight while avoiding DeAnda’s heavy hands for most of the fight. To DeAnda’s credit, he was never dropped by Spong, but he also never mounted any significant offense. At least I don’t think he did; one of the judges scored this fight 29-28.
Okay, so it wasn’t exactly the most exciting fight in recent memory. Fortunately, the rest of the WSoF 4 main card made up for the disappointment that was the main event. After the jump, there’s also videos of a knockout and submission for your viewing pleasure.
(Ray Sefo vs Dave Huckaba)
Though JZ Cavalcante’s (questionable) knockout over Tyson Griffin earned him a spot in the upcoming lightweight tournament, my favorite knockout from last night involved heavyweights Ray Sefo and Dave Huckaba. Yes, you read that correctly.
It’s funny how the fight that many of us were expecting to be one of the ugliest bouts of the year – two old-timers engaged in a conflict of interest will drastically lower your expectations – turned out to arguably be the best fight from last night’s card. Sefo was in control for most of it, but he was caught by a fierce counter left hook that put him out on his feet. A few follow-up punches later, and Huckaba was awarded the standing TKO.
(Nick Newell vs Keon Caldwell)
Also from last night’s card, Nick Newell’s WSoF debut ended predictably. We were given a few takedowns by Newell, a comparison of Newell to Anthony Robles from Todd Harris, and then Newell locked in the fight-ending choke before the end of the first round. Don’t look now, but Newell is now 10-0, with nine of those fights ending in the first round and seven of those fights ending by submission. Expect him to receive a step up in competition for his next bout.
Full Results
Main Card
Tyrone Spong def. Angel DeAnda via unanimous decision
Marlon Moraes def. Brandon Hempleman via unanimous decision
Nick Newell def. Keon Caldwell via submission (guillotine choke), 2:07 of Round One
Dave Huckaba def. Ray Sefo via TKO (punches), 4:32 of Round Two
Gesias Cavalcante def. Tyson Griffin via TKO (punches), 1:37 of Round Three
Preliminary Card
Gerald Harris def. Jorge Santiago via unanimous decision
Lewis Gonzales def. Antonio McKee via unanimous decision
Jared Papazian def. John Robles via unanimous decision
Victor Valenzuela def. Isaac Gutierrez via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:41 of Round Two
I’ve been speaking with Ray Sefo for a few minutes now and it doesn’t seem like he understands my question. I asked the multiple time Muay Thai world champion and successful kickboxing and MMA coach why he ever felt the need to step out of his comfort zone and fight under MMA rules.
The former K-1 star, now in his early forties, has fought three times in MMA and will once more tonight on the World Series of Fighting 4 card in California. The striking legend is also the President of WSOF.
I asked Sefo the question and he began to tell me of how he was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA by his friend Royce Gracie, the first ever UFC champion, back in 2000 in Japan where they were both competing at the time. He then went on to describe his next step into MMA, then his next, but I felt I had to politely interrupt and reiterate my initial question. I wasn’t asking for a step by step process of how he got into MMA but why he ever decided to.
He had made a name and good living from kickboxing. He transitioned into a full-time career coaching other elite fighters and now Sefo is a top executive at a major MMA organization.
He understands me quite well. Turns out that I was the one that didn’t understand Ray Sefo. “Listen, I’ve always fought,” he explains patiently.
“I’ve been boxing since I was a kid. I did Kung Fu for years. Back home when I started kickboxing my family all thought it wasn’t that big of a deal, they were suspicious of it because boxing was so big. But then they saw me fight and their minds changed. I love to learn and love to develop and challenge myself as a martial artist and fighter. MMA was the next natural step in that.”
I had been confused. To Ray Sefo, fighting isn’t a means of procuring and then protecting status at all costs. He wasn’t afraid of stepping out of his strength and comfort zone and fighting MMA. He isn’t afraid to continue to fight MMA now, in his forties and against younger opponents and risk losing.
I’ve been speaking with Ray Sefo for a few minutes now and it doesn’t seem like he understands my question. I asked the multiple time Muay Thai world champion and successful kickboxing and MMA coach why he ever felt the need to step out of his comfort zone and fight under MMA rules.
The former K-1 star, now in his early forties, has fought three times in MMA and will once more tonight on the World Series of Fighting 4 card in California. The striking legend is also the President of WSOF.
I asked Sefo the question and he began to tell me of how he was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA by his friend Royce Gracie, the first ever UFC champion, back in 2000 in Japan where they were both competing at the time. He then went on to describe his next step into MMA, then his next, but I felt I had to politely interrupt and reiterate my initial question. I wasn’t asking for a step by step process of how he got into MMA but why he ever decided to.
He had made a name and good living from kickboxing. He transitioned into a full-time career coaching other elite fighters and now Sefo is a top executive at a major MMA organization.
He understands me quite well. Turns out that I was the one that didn’t understand Ray Sefo. “Listen, I’ve always fought,” he explains patiently.
“I’ve been boxing since I was a kid. I did Kung Fu for years. Back home when I started kickboxing my family all thought it wasn’t that big of a deal, they were suspicious of it because boxing was so big. But then they saw me fight and their minds changed. I love to learn and love to develop and challenge myself as a martial artist and fighter. MMA was the next natural step in that.”
I had been confused. To Ray Sefo, fighting isn’t a means of procuring and then protecting status at all costs. He wasn’t afraid of stepping out of his strength and comfort zone and fighting MMA. He isn’t afraid to continue to fight MMA now, in his forties and against younger opponents and risk losing.
For Ray Sefo, fighting is breathing. He fights, that’s it. The particular rules he does so under are incidental.
Even though Sefo always respected MMA enough to view it as a new and unique challenge, at first he says he underestimated certain elements of it.
“I always had respect for submissions because of my friend Royce Gracie but when I started training for MMA I honestly kind of dismissed wrestling at first. I thought that stuff was easy,” he says with a chuckle, acknowledging the profound ignorance of his old attitude.
“Then I met Randy [Couture] back in 2005 and started training with these guys in wrestling. Man, wrestling is one of the hardest workouts you can do. There’s so much skill involved in it.”
Sefo tells CagePotato that, heading into tonight, he’s gotten a full training camp behind him. He’s had a chance to work on just those skills and others needed to fight his opponent, twenty five fight veteran Dave Huckaba. He partially blames an abbreviated training camp for his 2011 Strikeforce loss to Valentijn Overeem.
Sefo says that the plan is for this bout to be the final fight of his career. He says a sense of finality has not permeated his training camp, however.
“This possibly being my last match isn’t something that I’ve been thinking about each day. It’s the same thing it always is,” Sefo says.
“I go into the gym and train with the guys each day like always. I do that when I’m not fighting, I do it now training for my own fight and even if this is my final fight, I’ll do it every day afterwards. I first put on a pair of boxing gloves when I was a kid. I put them on today and I’ll keep putting them on the rest of my life.”
I’ve been speaking with Ray Sefo for a few minutes now and it doesn’t seem like he understands my question. I asked the multiple time Muay Thai world champion and successful kickboxing and MMA coach why he ever felt the need to step out of his comfort zone and fight under MMA rules.
The former K-1 star, now in his early forties, has fought three times in MMA and will once more tonight on the World Series of Fighting 4 card in California. The striking legend is also the President of WSOF.
I asked Sefo the question and he began to tell me of how he was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA by his friend Royce Gracie, the first ever UFC champion, back in 2000 in Japan where they were both competing at the time. He then went on to describe his next step into MMA, then his next, but I felt I had to politely interrupt and reiterate my initial question. I wasn’t asking for a step by step process of how he got into MMA but why he ever decided to.
He had made a name and good living from kickboxing. He transitioned into a full-time career coaching other elite fighters and now Sefo is a top executive at a major MMA organization.
He understands me quite well. Turns out that I was the one that didn’t understand Ray Sefo. “Listen, I’ve always fought,” he explains patiently.
“I’ve been boxing since I was a kid. I did Kung Fu for years. Back home when I started kickboxing my family all thought it wasn’t that big of a deal, they were suspicious of it because boxing was so big. But then they saw me fight and their minds changed. I love to learn and love to develop and challenge myself as a martial artist and fighter. MMA was the next natural step in that.”
I had been confused. To Ray Sefo, fighting isn’t a means of procuring and then protecting status at all costs. He wasn’t afraid of stepping out of his strength and comfort zone and fighting MMA. He isn’t afraid to continue to fight MMA now, in his forties and against younger opponents and risk losing.
I’ve been speaking with Ray Sefo for a few minutes now and it doesn’t seem like he understands my question. I asked the multiple time Muay Thai world champion and successful kickboxing and MMA coach why he ever felt the need to step out of his comfort zone and fight under MMA rules.
The former K-1 star, now in his early forties, has fought three times in MMA and will once more tonight on the World Series of Fighting 4 card in California. The striking legend is also the President of WSOF.
I asked Sefo the question and he began to tell me of how he was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA by his friend Royce Gracie, the first ever UFC champion, back in 2000 in Japan where they were both competing at the time. He then went on to describe his next step into MMA, then his next, but I felt I had to politely interrupt and reiterate my initial question. I wasn’t asking for a step by step process of how he got into MMA but why he ever decided to.
He had made a name and good living from kickboxing. He transitioned into a full-time career coaching other elite fighters and now Sefo is a top executive at a major MMA organization.
He understands me quite well. Turns out that I was the one that didn’t understand Ray Sefo. “Listen, I’ve always fought,” he explains patiently.
“I’ve been boxing since I was a kid. I did Kung Fu for years. Back home when I started kickboxing my family all thought it wasn’t that big of a deal, they were suspicious of it because boxing was so big. But then they saw me fight and their minds changed. I love to learn and love to develop and challenge myself as a martial artist and fighter. MMA was the next natural step in that.”
I had been confused. To Ray Sefo, fighting isn’t a means of procuring and then protecting status at all costs. He wasn’t afraid of stepping out of his strength and comfort zone and fighting MMA. He isn’t afraid to continue to fight MMA now, in his forties and against younger opponents and risk losing.
For Ray Sefo, fighting is breathing. He fights, that’s it. The particular rules he does so under are incidental.
Even though Sefo always respected MMA enough to view it as a new and unique challenge, at first he says he underestimated certain elements of it.
“I always had respect for submissions because of my friend Royce Gracie but when I started training for MMA I honestly kind of dismissed wrestling at first. I thought that stuff was easy,” he says with a chuckle, acknowledging the profound ignorance of his old attitude.
“Then I met Randy [Couture] back in 2005 and started training with these guys in wrestling. Man, wrestling is one of the hardest workouts you can do. There’s so much skill involved in it.”
Sefo tells CagePotato that, heading into tonight, he’s gotten a full training camp behind him. He’s had a chance to work on just those skills and others needed to fight his opponent, twenty five fight veteran Dave Huckaba. He partially blames an abbreviated training camp for his 2011 Strikeforce loss to Valentijn Overeem.
Sefo says that the plan is for this bout to be the final fight of his career. He says a sense of finality has not permeated his training camp, however.
“This possibly being my last match isn’t something that I’ve been thinking about each day. It’s the same thing it always is,” Sefo says.
“I go into the gym and train with the guys each day like always. I do that when I’m not fighting, I do it now training for my own fight and even if this is my final fight, I’ll do it every day afterwards. I first put on a pair of boxing gloves when I was a kid. I put them on today and I’ll keep putting them on the rest of my life.”
By all accounts, former K1 star and current World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo is an incredibly likable, humble, and charismatic guy — a guy who understands and tends to the needs of fighters competing in his promotion because he once was (and still is to some degree) a fighter himself. His nuanced attitude towards fighters and the sport in general has undoubtedly been one of the driving forces behind WSOF’s success, however, when he announced that he would be competing on his own promotion’s fourth card in August, it made anything but good business sense.
Yes, Sefo told The MMA Hour just moments ago that he would be setting aside his presidential duties for fifteen minutes on August 10th. If Luke Thomas’ theory holds any water, Sefo will likely compete against either Dave Huckaba or Rolles Gracie, who were scheduled to meet at the upcoming WSOF 3 before Gracie went down with an injury.
From almost every conceivable angle, this seems like a terrible idea. Setting aside the obvious conflict of interest that comes into play here, it’s just a plain bad idea from the standpoint of Ray Sefo, the fighter, who was tapped out in just over a minute by Valentijn “You hit, I fall” Overeem in his last MMA contest at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva. As any magic 8-ball will tell you, challenging a Gracie after being submitted by an Overeem results in an “outlook not so good.”
Sure, Affliction VP Tom Attencio pulled a similar switcheroo back in 2009, but his fight took place under an entirely different promotion. Can you imagine what either Huckaba or Gracie (if they are in fact deemed Sefo’s next opponent) will be thinking heading into a fight with the man who signs their paychecks? If they straight up embarrass the guy, it could possibly be reflected in their future with the promotion, whether transparently or not. And if they treat the fight like Pat Barry treated his fight with Mirko Cro Cop, the results will be skewed and pretty much render the whole fight pointless to begin with.
Sure, everyone probably wants to take a swing at their boss from time to time, but turning that fantasy into a reality is…shit, I just gave Mayhem Miller his next reality show hosting gig. I’ll see myself out…
By all accounts, former K1 star and current World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo is an incredibly likable, humble, and charismatic guy — a guy who understands and tends to the needs of fighters competing in his promotion because he once was (and still is to some degree) a fighter himself. His nuanced attitude towards fighters and the sport in general has undoubtedly been one of the driving forces behind WSOF’s success, however, when he announced that he would be competing on his own promotion’s fourth card in August, it made anything but good business sense.
Yes, Sefo told The MMA Hour just moments ago that he would be setting aside his presidential duties for fifteen minutes on August 10th. If Luke Thomas’ theory holds any water, Sefo will likely compete against either Dave Huckaba or Rolles Gracie, who were scheduled to meet at the upcoming WSOF 3 before Gracie went down with an injury.
From almost every conceivable angle, this seems like a terrible idea. Setting aside the obvious conflict of interest that comes into play here, it’s just a plain bad idea from the standpoint of Ray Sefo, the fighter, who was tapped out in just over a minute by Valentijn “You hit, I fall” Overeem in his last MMA contest at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva. As any magic 8-ball will tell you, challenging a Gracie after being submitted by an Overeem results in an “outlook not so good.”
Sure, Affliction VP Tom Attencio pulled a similar switcheroo back in 2009, but his fight took place under an entirely different promotion. Can you imagine what either Huckaba or Gracie (if they are in fact deemed Sefo’s next opponent) will be thinking heading into a fight with the man who signs their paychecks? If they straight up embarrass the guy, it could possibly be reflected in their future with the promotion, whether transparently or not. And if they treat the fight like Pat Barry treated his fight with Mirko Cro Cop, the results will be skewed and pretty much render the whole fight pointless to begin with.
Sure, everyone probably wants to take a swing at their boss from time to time, but turning that fantasy into a reality is…shit, I just gave Mayhem Miller his next reality show hosting gig. I’ll see myself out…
The World Series of Fighting held their first event at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV. Although the main card appeared to be stuffed with squash matches, it was a pretty good night of fights and I was there to get a good gauge on the atmosphere and if WSoF could become a player in the MMA world that Dana White rules with an iron fist.
First things first, it wasn’t the sellout they promised as word is that they only sold 1500 tickets and comped double that to ensure a nice fight atmosphere. Nevertheless, it was a good evening of fights that the crowd was receptive to. Oh yeah, ring girls. Lots of ring girls. They were like a platoon that switched in and out. I didn’t know ring girls needed breaks but whatever. It’s enough variety to keep fans engaged between rounds. I mean, Brittany Palmer and Arianny Celeste are great but six beats two every single gotdamn time. Right? But I digress…
Media sat on a stage that put us eye level with the cage and we could damn near touch it (or slap a cameraman) if we tried hard enough. We could actually feel some of the punches landed. Pretty good stuff. Oh yeah, and there were fights.
The World Series of Fighting held their first event at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV. Although the main card appeared to be stuffed with squash matches, it was a pretty good night of fights and I was there to get a good gauge on the atmosphere and if WSoF could become a player in the MMA world that Dana White rules with an iron fist.
First things first, it wasn’t the sellout they promised as word is that they only sold 1500 tickets and comped double that to ensure a nice fight atmosphere. Nevertheless, it was a good evening of fights that the crowd was receptive to. Oh yeah, ring girls. Lots of ring girls. They were like a platoon that switched in and out. I didn’t know ring girls needed breaks but whatever. It’s enough variety to keep fans engaged between rounds. I mean, Brittany Palmer and Arianny Celeste are great but six beats two every single gotdamn time. Right? But I digress…
Media sat on a stage that put us eye level with the cage and we could damn near touch it (or slap a cameraman) if we tried hard enough. We could actually feel some of the punches landed. Pretty good stuff. Oh yeah, and there were fights.
Andrei Arlovski def. Devin Cole via 1st round TKO (2:37)
In the main event, Arlovski walked out to some rap song where the chorus barked “Andrei Arlovski.” Cool or corny, I’m not sure. I’ll probably roll with corny. At any rate, all I was thinking about was “if he gets knocked out this great rap song will all be a waste.” Devin Cole’s biggest victory was against Mike Kyle back in 2006 so the chances he would beat Arlovski were slim to none.
Trying to rival Bruce Buffer, the announcer’s catch phrase heading into the main event was “Can you feel it!?!?” Nope, sure can’t. Not with that.
Anyways, Arlovski did exactly what was expected as he smashed an overhand right into Cole’s temple and sent him to the canvas. Arlovski followed him there and hammerfists met Cole’s face.
The end.
Anthony Johnson def. DJ Linderman via 1st round KO (3:58)
Yeah, we all knew that Anthony Johnson could separate your body from your spirit in one punch, but this was ri-goddamn-diculous. Johnson continued his crusade to destroy foes in the 205 division as he wrecked DJ Linderman with a right hook that sent him face first into the canvas. Here’s how it went…
Johnson and Linderman danced around a bit. Johnson kicked Linderman in the nuts real, real hard. Linderman got himself together and Johnson went after him. A poke in the eye had Johnson in trouble. Herb Dean didn’t see the eye poke and urged the blinking Johnsno to continue. Instead of Linderman being cordial, he decided to rush him. Hey, all is fair in war, right? Unfortunately, that just pissed Johnson off and he uncorked a right hook that landed with the impact of Thor’s Hammer and sent Linderman face planting to the canvas. Even referee Herb Dean looked down like “Damn!” before checking to see if Linderman was dead. Fortunately, he wasn’t.
Marlon Moraes def. Miguel Torres via split decision (30-27 & 29-28 for Moraes, 29-28 Torres)
Once upon a time, Miguel Torres was considered to be unbeatable. A punch by Brian Bowles in 2009 shattered his unbreakable image and it hasn’t been the same for him ever since (3-5 in his last 8 fights after going 37-1). A stint in the UFC was chopped down by Michael McDonald and a rape van tweet that he couldn’t shake. His debut in WSoF was thought to be a rebirth but it was a rather rude awakening that perhaps the game has passed him by. Torres looked out of sync and lost against Brazilian Marlon Moraes as his stalking style was disintegrated in the first minute of the fight when Moraes clocked him with a combination and blood trickled from his scalp. From there — with a bizarre mixture of boos and Ric Flair “woos” echoing through the crowd — Torres was out struck by Moraes as he proved to be the faster and stronger fighter. It wasn’t the most exciting fight but Moraes was so comfortable that he attempted a jumping roundhouse in the third round. You wouldn’t have done that to Torres five years ago. But today, it’s a different story. A late takedown during a relatively competitive third sealed his fate. Well, almost. Somehow, one judge inexplicably scored the fight 29-28 for Torres but the other two judges managed to get it right with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 for Moraes.
Tyrone Spong def. Travis Bartlett via 1st round TKO (3:15)
101-5-1 is Tyrone Spong’s kickboxing record before deciding to head to the world of MMA. Obviously, his debut was hyped. Poor Travis Bartlett stood in the way of Spong becoming 1-0. That didn’t last long. The kickboxing beast handed out a savage beating to Bartlett that will likely have light heavyweights crapping their pants. After nearly kicking Bartlett’s head into the audience on several occasions, Spong settled for a straight right hand that dropped his foe to the canvas in a “no mas” manner eerily reminiscent of how Forrest Griffin collapsed to the canvas against Anderson Silva. It was ugly, it was brutal, it was beautiful.
—
Elsewhere on the card…
Tyson “The Man Of” Steele stopped Gregor Gracie in the first round with a hulk smash TKO. Time of stoppage was 2:11
Brian Cobb ended Rony Torres two-year, 11-fight win streak with a split decision victory.
Steve Carl pulled a nifty transition from crucifix to rear naked choke to elicit the tapout at the 2:11 mark.
Josh Burkman was impressive as he earned a unanimous decision victory over Gerald Harris.
JZ Cavalcante bent TJ O Brien’s leg like a pretzel as he scored a first round submission in 63 seconds.
David Branch’s workman like performance earned him a unanimous decision victory over Dustin Jacoby.
Spotted In The Crowd: Jake Shields, Urijah Faber, Rashad Evans, Travis Browne, Pat Militich, Vitor Belfort, Martin Kampmann, Ian McCall, Jay Heiron, TJ Lavin, Josh Barnett, Rampage Jackson, Chael Sonnen, Joseph Benevidez & Frank Trigg
In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been all about the inaugural World Series of Fighting event around here lately. We’ve snagged interviews with former UFC welterweight Josh Burkman, who is taking on fellow UFC vet Gerald Harris on the undercard, and world renowned badass/WSOF President Ray Sefo. In the meantime, we’ve been doing our best to undermine the legitimacy of the UFC, in turn allowing the WSOF to rise to MMA supremacy and grant us exclusive press passes for all future events.
And regardless of whether or not our preposterous pipe dream ever becomes a reality, we will be tuning in on Saturday to catch all the action. Sherdog will be hosting a live stream of the undercard starting at 8 pm. EST and the NBC Sports Network will be picking up the main card at 10 p.m. EST, so none of you should really have any excuse to miss this. On the off chance you still do, however, here are five of our attempts to convince you otherwise.
1. Shit is Stacked
At first glance, the above event poster looks like some kind of sick joke. You’ve got three UFC veterans — two of which are former UFC/WEC champions — in Andrei Arlovski, Miguel Torres, and Anthony Johnson, taking on three completely unknowns in Cole, Moraes, and Linderman. On the other hand, squash matches are the new black, so if it’s good enough for the UFC, why not WSOF?
In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been all about the inaugural World Series of Fighting event around here lately. We’ve snagged interviews with former UFC welterweight Josh Burkman, who is taking on fellow UFC vet Gerald Harris on the undercard, and world renowned badass/WSOF President Ray Sefo. In the meantime, we’ve been doing our best to undermine the legitimacy of the UFC, in turn allowing the WSOF to rise to MMA supremacy and grant us exclusive press passes for all future events.
And regardless of whether or not our preposterous pipe dream ever becomes a reality, we will be tuning in on Saturday to catch all the action. Sherdog will be hosting a live stream of the undercard starting at 8 pm. EST and the NBC Sports Network will be picking up the main card at 10 p.m. EST, so none of you should really have any excuse to miss this. On the off chance you still do, however, here are five of our attempts to convince you otherwise.
1. Shit is Stacked
At first glance, the above event poster looks like some kind of sick joke. You’ve got three UFC veterans — two of which are former UFC/WEC champions — in Andrei Arlovski, Miguel Torres, and Anthony Johnson, taking on three completely unknowns in Cole, Moraes, and Linderman. On the other hand, squash matches are the new black, so if it’s good enough for the UFC, why not WSOF? Besides the fact that the main card pairings are all but guaranteed to end in vicious fashion because of their experience discrepancies, just look at the rest of that card. You’ve got Tyrone Spong‘s MMA debut, a Gracie in action, and more big promotion veterans than you could shake a stick at. For Christ’s sake, the WSOF undercard has more recognizable names on it than most UFC undercards these days, and the fact that not one of the fights has been cancelled or even changed due to injury should be reason enough to tune in.
2. Tyrone Spong Goes MMA
As we just mentioned, Tyrone Spong will be making his MMA debut this Saturday against the 7-2 Travis Bartlett. You should be excited about this because Tyrone Spong is one bad motherfucker. Don’t believe us? Just check this out:
Spong’s kickboxing record currently stands at 68-6 (42 KO’s), with vicories over Ray Sefo, Alistair Overeem, and Melvin Manhoef, and he retired kickboxing legend Peter Aerts in his last fight. So yeah, dude can fight. And on Saturday night, we’ll get to see just how well The Blackzilians have been able to round off the rest of his MMA game. If he has truly been able to develop his grappling and ground game, we could be looking at a future heavyweight champion here, people.
3. Anthony Johnson: LHW Wrecking Machine
Despite his past troubles with the scale, there is little denying that when “Rumble” shows up to fight, he does so with the intent of brutalizing his opponent as much as humanely possible (Dan Hardy notwithstanding). You can argue that R.A. the Rugged Man was talking about Vietnam all you want, but we stand by our belief that he was describing an Anthony Johnson fight when he wrote “Body parts flying, loss of limbs, explosions, bad intentions” on the Jedi Mind Tricks track “Uncommon Valor.” And now that Johnson has finally settled down in a weight class he can actually compete in, a big win over Bellator veteran D.J. Linderman could easily earn him another shot in the UFC, who are apparently completely absent of actual 205 lb. contenders at the moment. If not, we will get to see either a brilliant knockout or a tremendous upset at the minimum, so everybody wins.
4. Sink or Swim
Since the boom of the sport, we’ve seen hundreds of MMA promotions spring up across the country, only to fold just as quickly. The fact that World Series of Fighting has a fighter at the helm in Ray Sefo is a good indicator, but you should tune in on Saturday out of pure curiosity. Will WSOF go the way of OneFC, featuring an emphasis on local talent and quality matchups, or will it go the route of Super Fight League, wherein lavish productions and fancy entrances take precedence over the actual quality of the fights? Or even worse, will they go down the path of Affliction and literally spend themselves dry in a matter of months?
Since the UFC is dead set on absorbing any promotion that may pose a threat then leaving them to slowly decay, World Series of Fighting could provide a much needed fix for MMA fans in between UFC cards with the help of Bellator and InvictaFC, so let’s hope they’ve got a solid head on their shoulders heading into this expedition.
5. Did We Mention This Card is Stacked?
Seriously, you guys, this may be the most stacked card outside of the UFC that we have seen in years. Ronnys Torres vs. Brian Cobb has the potential for FOTN written all over it, as does the Cavalcante/O’Brien matchup. And to kick off the night, we’ve got the supremely overlooked Waylon Lowe — who, like Harris, was released after just one appearance in the UFC — taking on Fabio Mello, who has scored seven straight victories including two under the Bellator banner. Are we making the same point twice? Yes. Deal with it. This card is freaking stacked. Okay, three times.
