Here we are: the final month of the 2014 fight year.
It’s been an interesting year away from the UFC – World Series of Fighting took a step forward and established itself as a strong secondary option and Bellator MMA underwent some major changes that have it poised to be a factor in the year ahead. Add in the continued growth of the sport in Asia lead by One FC and 2015 is already shaping up to be a strong year beyond the walls of the biggest brand in the sport.
But we’re not there yet.
Here’s a look at the top MMA action taking place Outside the Octagon for the month of December.
One FC 23: Warrior’s Way (December 5)
Fights to Watch:Bibiano Fernandes vs Dae Hwan Kim
Fighters to Watch: Brandon Vera, Roger Gracie
Fernandes is on the short list of top fighters competing outside of the UFC right now and is a perfect 3-0 under the One FC banner. “Flash” has won eight straight overall and is 15-1 over his last 16 after beginning his career at 1-2 with losses to Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto. The 27-year-old Kim is unbeaten in his pro career and coming off back-to-back submission wins to earn a shot at the bantamweight champ.
Vera is 37 and has fought just once in the last 27 months, a third round TKO loss to Ben Rothwell. He’s past his prime, but still a recognizable name and someone One FC could potentially build its heavyweight division around going forward. Gracie, who takes on fellow UFC cast-off James McSweeney, fits a similar bill and returns to action for the first time since losing to Tim Kennedy in July 2013.
Invicta FC 10: Waterson vs. Tiburcio (December 5)
Fights to Watch: Michelle Waterson vs. Herica Tiburcio
Fighters to Watch: Andrea Lee, DeAnna Bennett, Alexa Grasso
With all due respect to “The Karate Hottie” and Tiburcio, there is a bit of a let down here as Invicta FC 10 was supposed to mark the bantamweight debut of Cris (Cyborg) Justino.
Nonetheless, Waterson is must-see attraction riding a six-fight winning streak that includes consecutive slick finishes in the latter stages of championship fights. The Team Jackson-Winkeljohn fighter is positioned to be the face of the organization, so you might as well get familiar with her now. Tiburcio, meanwhile, is a 22-year-old submission specialist whose most recent setback came against Claudia Gadelha, arguably the top strawweight in the sport.
Lee and Bennett are both high upside talents that compete at 125 pounds, right in between the two weight classes currently featured in the UFC. The 25-year-old Lee is a polish kickboxer coming off a “live sparring session” win last month and taking on veteran Roxanne Modafferi in a fight that has showcase potential. Bennett, on the other hand, is a 30-year-old Pit Elevated representative who holds a win over TUF winner Julianna Pena. Both should be in the UFC before too long.
At 21 years old, Grasso is a prospect worth tracking. She’s already 5-0 and with the UFC making a push into the Mexican market, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Lobo Gym product added to the strawweight ranks before the next event in Mexico City.
BAMMA 17: Fletcher vs. Brightmon (December 6)
Fighters to Watch: Walter Gahadza, Mike Wootten
The unbeaten Gahadza landed on a number of “Top Prospects” lists heading into 2014 and has maintained his position there by picking up a decision win in April. If he’s able to push his record to a perfect 15-0 next Saturday, “The Sniper” should be getting a call from a larger company in 2015.
Having been a part of Season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, Wootten rates watching. The Team Rousey member scored a second-round submission win in his post-TUF return to action and if he can run his record to 9-0 with a win over 4-0 Peter Ligier here, a chance to compete in the Octagon for real could follow.
KSW 29 (December 6)
Fighter to Watch: Mamed Khalidov
Khalidov is the face of the promotion and one of those guys UFC fans have been clamoring to see compete against the big boys for quite some time. He’s 29-4-2 with wins over a slew of recognizable names, but at 34, his best years are probably behind him. That being said, it’s hard to argue with 28 stoppages in 29 wins. He takes on Bellator vet Brett Cooper here and should pick up his 30th professional victory, probably in entertaining fashion.
WSOF 16: Palhares vs. Fitch (December 13)
Fights to Watch:
Rousimar Palhares vs. Jon Fitch (for the welterweight title)
Rick Glenn vs. Lance Palmer (for the bantamweight title)
After finishing a distant third in last month’s three-event race on November 15, WSOF returns with a twin title-fight event in California that once again goes head-to-head with the UFC on FOX.
Granted, the UFC doesn’t leave a lot of open weekends available, but maybe run on Fridays or Wednesdays or something instead of always getting thumped on in battles with the most established brand in the business. Just saying.
The welterweight title fight is about as good as a match-up as you’re going to get beyond the UFC right now and it should be interesting. The Brazilian attacks submissions without remorse and Fitch is great at defending, so the back and forth could should produce an entertaining battle on the canvas.
Glenn claimed the bantamweight title with a win over Georgi Karakhanyan back in June and now faces Team Alpha Male’s Palmer, who gets his second shot at WSOF gold after losing to Karakhanyan on short notice in his promotional debut. This is a classic “striker vs. grappler” pairing that will establish the winner as one of the top talents outside of the UFC.
Titan FC 32 (December 19)
Fight to Watch: Dave Herman vs. Jon Madsen
Fighter to Watch: Des Green
The fact that Herman and Madsen rate as a fight to watch speaks to the dearth of talent in the heavyweight division. After flaking out in the UFC, Herman picked up a unanimous decision win over Kalib Starnes last time out, while Madsen returned from a three-year break to earn a 48-second win in March. A win for the TUF 10 vet could put him on the short list of potential heavyweight call-ups heading into 2015.
Green, who takes on the recently released Steven Siler, is coming off a 46-second finish of Miguel Torres on Halloween. He doesn’t have a ton of power, but the 25-year-old bantamweight is quick and athletic with a 13-3 record, which should put him on the radar for the bigger promotions going forward.
Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2014 (December 31)
Fight to Watch: Mirko Filipovic vs. Satoshi Ishii
Fighter to Watch: Shinya Aoki
Somehow, Ishii is still only 27 and that makes him intriguing, despite his having been a prospect for several years now. A doctor’s stoppage halted his fight with “CroCop” earlier this year and while a win over the former Pride star at this stage doesn’t carry much weight, this is still a “big name” fight on Antonio Inoki’s traditional New Year’s Eve card, so it’s worth watching.
Aoki is entrenched as one of the top lightweights in Japan and just a notch below the truly elite in the division, but the days of hoping he transitions to the UFC or a major promotion full-time appear to be over. That said, his submission game and flair for the dramatic make him a must-see attraction, especially on New Year’s Eve.