Worldwide MMA Preview – ICE FC, Bellator, WSOF, Brace, ONE FC

Irish action in Manchester two big cards in America and title fights in China are the highlights of this week’s worldwide MMA schedule.

Ice FC presents a card of solid MMA action on Friday night in Manchester, England. Top of the bill is Chris Fishgold v Benjamin Baudrier at lightweight. After an impressive start to his MMA career that included victories over Andy DeVent, Steve O’Keefe and TUF’s Marcin Wrzosek, Fishgold has faltered lately with a defeat to Korean Ki Bum Moon and a draw with Ryan Roddy rounding out his 10-1-1 record. Baudrier has an 8-4 record and he is coming off two consecutive wins in 2015.

Primal MMA’s Ryan Curtis will also be competing on the card. After a promising amateur career, the Owen Roddy student got his professional career off to the perfect start in June when he scored a first round victory over Reece Street. He will be up against the young Englishman Dylan Edwards on Friday.

Oklahoma, United States is the location of Bellator 146 on Friday night. The event is headlined by a clash between Melvin Manhoef and Hisaki Kato. After compiling a 4-1 record in Japan, Kato shot to MMA fame with a stunning KO victory over kickboxer Joe Schilling in June. He proved himself on that night to be a durable and exciting fighter who can throw down with the best. Manhoef needs no introduction, his career spans 20 years and includes fights all over the world from the UK to Japan. Manhoef has an incredible 27 KO/TKO wins in his career so this fight should be exciting.

The co-main event sees Bubba Jenkins clash with Jordan Parsons. Jenkins is trying to get back into the title mix at featherweight but it is the densest division in Bellator so he will need to impress. Parsons is coming off an impressive victory over highly touted Brazilian prospect Julio Cesar Neves who was 30-0 going into their contest. That victory put Parson’s record at 12-1.

Also in America on Friday night but in Phoenix, Arizona is WSOF 25. The card features a one night, eight man lightweight tournament which will determine the next challenger for Justin Gaethje. The matchs for the tournament are as follows: Jorge Patino v Islam Mamedov, Mike Ricci v Brian Cobb, Brian Foster v Joao Zeferino and Luis Palomino v Richard Patishnock. Palomino must be considered a contender due to his two fights the champion, and Brian Foster and Islam Mamedov will also be in the mix in my opinion.

Australian promotion Brace is the newest addition to the live offering on UFC Fight Pass and they make their debut this weekend. The card features numerous title fights and is headlined by a title fight between Jamie Mullarkey and Greg Criticos. Mullarky has a perfect 8-0 record with seven finishes. Criticos is the older man but less experienced in the cage with only two professional fights but they were both first round submission victories.

Former UFC and Cage Warriors fighter Benny Alloway will compete in a welterweight title fight against Theo Christakos. Alloway managed a win in the UFC before defeats to Ryan LaFlare and Zak Cummings but he is now on a two fight win streak that brings his record to 16-6. Christakos is 4-0 with all of his wins coming via submission.

On Saturday it is One Championship: Dynasty of Champions from Beijing, China. The main event is a featherweight title fight between the champion Jadamba Narantungalag and Marat Gafurov. Jadamba is a veteran despite his relatively sparse 10-3 record. He won the title from Koji Oishi in a decision last year and Gafurov will be his first defence. The fight was originally set for September but visa issues meant the fight had to be rescheduled. Garfurov did fight that night and he submitted Martin Nguyen in the first round to bring his record to 14-0. Of those 14 wins, eight are by submission.

The co-main event is flyweight title fight between Adriano Moraes and Kairat Akhmetov. Moraes is the champion and he has been for over a year now with one title defence under his belt against Asuka Mikami. Moraes is on a four fight winning streak that has brought his record to 13-1. As for Akhmetov, he has a 22-0 record composed mainly in Kazakhstan and it includes 12 submission and five KO/TKOs. His last fight was against former Conor McGregor and Paddy Holohan opponent Artemij Sitenkov.