Worldwide MMA Preview – One FC, RFA, M-1, Jungle, Tech Krep and FNF

One FC: Tigers of Asia is the opening action of this weekend. The event will be headlined by the rescheduled middleweight title fight between Igor Svirid and Vitaly Bigdash. Svirid captured the inaugural One FC middleweight crown with a quick victory over Leandro Ataides in November 2014. This match was originally scheduled to take place in early September but the event was cancelled at the last moment. Svirid, who hails from Kazakhstan, is unbeaten since his first professional fight and now holds a 10-1 record. His Russian opponent Bigdash is unbeaten with a 7-0 record compiled entirely in Eastern Europe and he has finished his opponent before the final bell in each and every one of those contests.

In the co-main event One FC veteran Peter Davis will take on Australian Adrian Pang. Pang is the more experienced fighter as he has been competing in MMA since 2001 and has amassed over 30 fights. He lost a split decision to current One FC champion Jadamba Narantungalag in 2011 and a victory here could line up a rematch in the near future. Davis has fought eight times for One FC and he is currently riding a four fight winning streak which includes three consecutive TKO finishes.

Elsewhere on the card there are three noteworthy Filipino fighters competing on the card. Eugene Toquero and Eric Kelly will look to improve on their current good form while Honorio Banario will try to snap a four fight losing streak when he takes Malaysia’s own Ev Ting. Also South Korea’s Dae Hwan Kim will be returning for the first time since failing in his attempt to win the One FC bantamweight title from Bibiano Fernandes last year.

On Friday evening Russian promotion Tech Krep present a card from Krasnodar. The main event will see Denis Goltsov take on John Hawk with the heavyweight title on the line. Goltsov is frequently cited as one of the best heavyweights outside the UFC.  He is unbeaten since 2012 and has victories over Brett Rogers, Zoumana Cisse and James McSweeney in recent times. Hawk has been competing primarily on the American regional scene although his record does include three fights under the Bellator banner; he has won three in a row and has a record of 11-5. The card also features the finals of Tech Krep’s tournaments at featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight. The tournaments have showcased emerging young talent from the region and there will be significant momentum for the winners to build upon in the coming months.

Two Ultimate Fighter alumni will battle in the main event of RFA 31 from Las Vegas, Nevada for the RFA welterweight title. Gilbert Smith was unsuccessful on the show and was released from the UFC after a defeat to Bubba McDaniel. He came up short in an attempt to win the RFA title at the beginning of the year but he did manage to capture the crown by overcoming Ben Smith in June. His challenger will be Bristol Marunde who was defeated by Neil Magny on the Ultimate Fighter, following the show he lost twice in the UFC before being released. He has rattled off four victories since then and has put himself in a position to get a recall to the big show.

Saturday brings us to Sochi, Russia for M-1 Challenge 62. The main event is a featherweight title fight between Ivan Buchinger and Mansour Barnaoui. Buchinger has won eight fights in a row since he was defeated by Conor McGregor in Cage Warriors. That run includes winning the Cage Warriors lightweight title and the M-1 featherweight title. Barnaoui is the current M-1 lightweight title and a former lightweight champion in BAMMA. The Frenchman is 12-2 with his defeats coming to current UFC fighters Kevin Lee and Islam Makhachev. This is one of the finest fights that can possibly be made outside the UFC right now and it is great to see a promotion trying their hardest to test their fighters by doing champion v champion matches.

On Saturday night the action comes from Sao Paulo, Brazil with Jungle Fight 82. The main event will be contested for the lightweight championship between current title holder Ciro Rodrigues and challenger Erick Barbosa. Rodrigues won the vacant lightweight title in June and this will be his first defence. The 26 year old has an 18-6 record that includes five wins in a row. The two men met in 2012 when Barbosa won a split decision, he has earned this rematch with a three fight winning streak.

Also on Saturday at Fight Night Finland 10, Englishman Sean “Sexy Curls” Carter who was defeated in his bout to get into this season’s The Ultimate Fighter house takes on Finland’s Jani Salmi in Turku, Finland.