MMA fans all across the world, gear up, because November 2015 is going to be a terrific month for all of you. The UFC is holding four events, Bellator has two lined up, and even WSOF has a really fun card for you as well.
Let’s start with the UFC. UFC Fight Night 77, which takes place November 7 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. For a Fight Night card, I don’t think it gets much better than this. This is a really, really good card featuring a bunch of high-level fights. The main event sees Vitor Belfort take on Dan Henderson is a trilogy fight between two veterans, and the rest of the undercard is stacked too. Fights such as Anthony Birchak vs. Thomas Almeida, Kevin Souza vs. Chas Skelly, Glover Teixeira vs. Patrick Cummins, Gilbert Burns vs. Rashid Magomedov and Chas Skelly vs. Thiago Tavares. It’s really an exceptional card, one of the better Fight Night events the UFC has ever assembled, and it’s must-watch TV for the MMA fan this month.
The next event, UFC 193, takes place in 70,000-seat Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, and the company hopes to break the record for attendance at a UFC event with it. The main event sees UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey take on Holly Holm, while the co-main event sees UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk take on Valerie Letourneau. There is also a heavyweight rematch between Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva slated for the card, as well as a middleweight bout between Robert Whittaker and Uriah Hall. The preliminary card is weak, mainly consisting of mid-to-low-level Aussie fighters, but the main card is pretty solid, albeit headlined by what could very well be a sub-one-minute fight. I think UFC 194 in December looks like a much better card, but this event is still worth watching.
UFC Fight Night 78, which goes down November 21 in Monterrey, Mexico, looks to be flying under the radar, but there’s some really solid fights on this card. The main event between welterweight contenders Matt Brown and Kelvin Gastelum is one of the best fights the UFC has lined up in any division at the moment, and it will be interesting to see how Diego Sanchez looks at featherweight when he takes on Ricardo Lamas in his debut in his new weight class. Henry Cejudo also takes on Jussier Formiga in what could be a #1 contender’s bout at 125 lbs. There are also, not surprisingly, a number of Latin American fighters lower down the card. It’s not the best event of the year, but there are some good fights on it.
And the fourth and final UFC offering in November is UFC Fight Night 79, which takes place November 28 in Seoul, South Korea. It’s the UFC’s first event in South Korea, and they are bringing with them a decent, but not great card for the South Korean fans. The main event is a really fun welterweight bout between Benson Henderson and Thiago Alves, which should be fantastic, but the co-main event between Mirko Cro Cop and Anthony Hamilton is disappointing. However, the Jorge Masvidal vs. Dong Hyun Kim fight should be good. And as you’d expect, there are a number of Asian fighters on the prelims. There are some good fights on this card, and while a number of the fighters are unknown, it’s still watchable.
Then we head over to Bellator, which is holding two shows. The first, Bellator 145, features two terrific title fights November 6 in St. Louis, Missouri. In the main event Bellator featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire takes on top contender Daniel Straus in a trilogy fight, and in the co-main event, Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks looks to successfully defend his title against Marcin Held. In addition, Michael Chandler returns in a squash match against David Rickels, Bobby Lashley takes on James Thompson in a heavyweight bout, and UFC fighter Justin Lawrence also makes an appearance on the card. It’s an excellent card, and not one to be missed, as the top two bouts are of the highest quality.
The other Bellator card is Bellator 146, which takes place November 20 in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The main event should be an exciting striking affair between Hisaki Kato, who is coming off of arguably the knockout of the year against Joe Schilling, and Melvin Manhoef, who was knocked out in brutal fashion in his last two bouts. Additionally, prospect Bubba Jenkins makes his return against Jordan Parsons, plus Chidi Njokuani, brother of Anthony, makes his Bellator debut. This event isn’t as good as the other Bellator card this month, but it features a few decent fights that are enough reason to at least DVR the card and watch later.
And heading over to WSOF, the promotion’s 25th event takes place November 20 in Phoenix, Arizona, and it features a one-night, eight-man tournament with the winner getting a shot at the WSOF lightweight title. The tournament participants are Mike Ricci, Joao Zeferino, Jorge Patino, Brian Cobb, Rich Patishnock, Brian Foster, Luis Palomino, and Islam Mamedov. Five of those guys used to fight in the UFC, and while this tournament doesn’t feature any elite fighters, it should still be a lot of fun to watch. MMA was built on tournaments, and it’s nice to see WSOF bring them back.
So it’s going to be a big month. The UFC’s events will obviously attract all of the attention — particularly UFC 193 — but Bellator and WSOF also are putting out offerings that are worth checking out. So gear up, because it’s going to be a really fun month of fights.
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Bellator 145: Vengeance takes place on November 6, 2015 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
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UFC Fight Night 77: Belfort vs. Henderson 3 takes place on November 7, 2015 at Auditório Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm (formerly UFC 193: Lawler vs. Condit) takes place on November 14, 2015 at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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UFC Fight Night 78: Brown vs. Gastelum takes place on November 21, 2015 at Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.
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UFC Fight Night 79: Henderson vs. Masvidal (formerly UFC Fight Night 79: Henderson vs. Alves) takes place on November 28, 2015 at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, South Korea.
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