There is no UFC this weekend, but there are still a ton of fights scheduled.
Friday
6pm - (Fightpass) - Titan FC 44
Titan is one of the best B-leagues and this is no exception. Looking at tapology, this card is good by local promotion standards, with two title fights.
8pm - (Spike) - Bellator 179 Daley vs. MacDonald
oh hey, a couple of fights I actually want to see on Bellator. Thats rare. Judging by Tapology, its a very top-heavy card but if you only care about the last 2 or 3 fights, then its above average by Bellator standards. It will say live on your TV listings, but its in London (and going on right now) so it'll be tape delay. If you can't avoid spoilers, then watch Titan instead.
Saturday
Bellator is also doing something stupid on Saturday afternoon. They tried to work out a deal with NASCAR to have fights in the middle of the racetrack before the flag drops, but because of conflicts with FS1 and NASCAR, they are putting up 4 fights on Saturday that will not be televised at all, only seen by confused race fans at the track. Whatever, the card was total garbage anyway.
2:30pm - (Fightpass) - Glory 41
Its kickboxing. If you like that sport and you have nothing else to do, you should watch it. Its better than mowing your lawn.
7pm - (Fightpass) - Invicta FC 23
This one is below average by Invicta standards. (You aren't fooling me Invicta, you can't convince me that Roxanne Modafferi is worth a shit by matching her up against someone who is older than hell. I'm sure she'll win, and I won't care)
It is what it is, their families will probably be watching, and so will UFC matchmakers. If a couple fighters do really well, you'll probably them in the UFC later this year. By the way, what's up with Invicta and Kansas City? Invicta loves the city I guess, its literally the 4th or 5th time in a row they had their fights in KC. [Reply]
Dana White said that if the McGregor-Mayweather fight happens, it'll just be a boxing show with no MMA on the undercard. Previously he suggested it might be the main event after a card of MMA fights, but he's moved off that. He'll begin negotiations with TMT next week.
He also said that win, lose, or draw, Conor wants to get back into the cage and defend his LW belt before the end of the year. [Reply]
In other news, Neil Degrasse Tyson was on the UFC unfiltered podcast. One little-known fact is that Dr. Tyson was an undefeated state champ as a high school wrestler, and then wrestled for Harvard while studying astrophysics. So naturally Neil wanted to show off one of his favorite pinning moves on Matt Serra, and then Matt Serra demonstrated a Kimura. This clip also has a pretty good story about when someone pulled a knife on Tyson in high school.
Mighty Mouse isn't thrilled about it. On twitter, he basically said he wants TJ to prove that he can actually cut to 125 and win at 125. He wants TJ to beat someone else at 125 then fight for the title.
This is probably a negotiating ploy. DJ is basically saying that if the UFC wants him to take a really hard fight for his record-breaking attempt, then they will have to pay him for it. And I'm fine with it, DJ is drastically underpaid, he might have a little leverage here, so write the big check and then they can promote the hell out of this. [Reply]
If you are awake in the middle of the night for some weird reason, this looks average by local promotion standards and they tend to squeeze in a lot of fights without a lot of waiting around.
10am TV - (9am Fightpass/10am FS1) - UFC Fight Night Morning Gustaffson vs. Teixeira
Note thats am, not pm. Main card starts at noon. Obviously the fights are in Europe, but its about average by UFC standards for free TV which is unusual for an overseas card. The last 3 fights are all good. You don't need to wake up early, but you should probably turn on the TV at least after 1pm. [Reply]