Worldwide MMA Preview –  PLMMA, ONE FC, FCC 13, Jungle Fights and more

While this weekend features a high profile Bellator card and UFC title fight there are other fights of interest around the world of MMA including cards from Brazil, Japan and Paddy Pimblett in action in England.

PLMMA of Poland is presenting a card on Friday including a middleweight title fight between the Greek Nikos Sokolis and local man Antoni Chmielewski. Sokolis has many fought regional competition and has bounced back from a 2011 loss to the UFC’s Mats Nilsson to put together a four fight winning streak and an 11-2 record overall. Chmielewski is the more experienced competitor having fought many times in KSW with an MMA record stretching back to 2003 and he has compiled a 29-12 record. He is coming off three successive submission victories and at 33 he is still in his prime.

ONE Championship has a card from China on Saturday afternoon. It features two one night 4-man tournaments but the competitors are mainly inexperienced Chinese fighters. The card is headlined by Russian Timofey Nastyukhin against experienced Japanese journeyman Yusuke Kawanago. Nastyukhin finished his last fight violently with a flying knee and follow up soccer kicks and his was due to fight Rob Lisita in May until Lisita was forced to withdraw due to injury. At 8-1 an impressive victory here could put him next in line to fight Jadamba Narantungalag for the ONE featherweight crown.

In Bolton, England on Saturday FCC 13 takes place featuring some Cage Warriors veterans. In the co-main event SBG Manchester’s Matt Inman takes on French journeyman Vincent del Guerra. Both have previously competed in Cage Warriors, Inman had a long tenure with the promotion with ups and downs while Guerra went 0-2. In the cards main event Paddy Pimblett will defend his newly acquired FCC featherweight title against Miguel Haro. Pimblett has an 8-1 record and at only 20 years of age he is definitely one to keep an eye on. Hero has a mixed record of 8-5 but is coming off a win in his last fight.

Saturday also features action from Brazil. Rio based Face to Face is hosting a card which including some Bellator veterans. BJJ ace Davi Ramos will look to bounce back from a defeat to former Bellator tournament winner David Rickels. Ramos has a 4-1 record with three of his wins coming via submission. Another fighter looking to bounce back from a disappointing tenure in Bellator is Genair da Silva who went 2-2 in the promotion and has a 14-5 MMA record. The card is headlined by 6-2 UFC veteran Guilherme Vasconcelos against TUF Brazil 2 competitor Marcio Santos who holds a 6-1 record.

Elsewhere in Brazil we have Jungle Fight 78 in Sao Paulo with two title fights. Jungle Fight has long been seen as the premier breeding ground for Brazilian fighters on their way to the top. The co-main event features Ciro Rodrigues vs Diogo Cavalcanti for the lightweight title. At 17-5 Rodrigues is the more experienced man but with all eight of his wins coming via finish Cavalcanti can’t be counted out. The main event sees 5-0 Bruno Lopes against Paraguayan Alvaro Correa who has a 7-0 record. This will be the first defence of Lopes’ welterweight crown.

Sunday sees us head to Japan where veteran Muay Thai practitioner Rambaa Somdet will compete for Shooto. At 40 years old Somdet is as experienced as they come despite his relatively small MMA record of 12-3. The former Shooto 115lbs champion has fought all but one of his MMA fights in Asia, his lone foray to America produced a victory over Ulysses Gomez but Somdet fell short in his last fight where he was defeated by split decision against Crisanto Pitpitunge of the Philippines. Somdet’s opponent on Sunday will be Masayoshi Kato. The Japanese man is also coming off a loss so it is a vital fight for both men.