BUSIEST SATURDAY ON THE MMA CALENDAR

Saturday, December 7th will have to go down as one of the busiest nights in world MMA. Invicta, Cage Warriors, KSW and WSOF all took place on the same night which resulted in many fans switching over between different streams while watching twitter for other results and opinions. Lets be grateful that UFC and ONE FC scheduled their shows for the Friday!

Let us start with WSOF 7. On the promotions first foray outside of the United States proved to be a big one as far as implications on the roster. They crowned their first featherweight champ as Georgi Karakhanyan (23-3)submitted (guillotine) Lance Palmer (7-1) in the third round. One-armed fighter Nick Newell (11-0) continued his unbeaten streak with, despite his obvious disadvantage, a standing guillotine on Sabah Fadai (7-3).

UFC cast-off Jesse Taylor (27-9) goes through to the middleweight tournament final with a unanimous decision win over Elvis Mutapcic (13-3). And speaking of UFC cast-offs, do you remember Kalib Starnes? The guy who Dana White furiously booted out of the UFC after putting on one of the most boring performances ever seen in the Octagon? Well he won last night by KO via a devastating elbow on Dwayne Lewis (13-9). With the win Starnes (16-8-1) is now 4-0 in 2013.

Another promotion putting on their 7th show was women’s MMA promotion Invicta FC which proved to be one of their most action packed to date. Bruising champ Barb Honchak (9-2) retained her flyweight title with a unanimous decision win over Leslie Smith (6-4-1) in really tough 25 minute affair.

Invicta crowned their first bantamweight champ as Lauren Murphy (8-0) defeated multiple time Muay Thai world champ Miriam Nakamota (2-1). The result will go down as a TKO win for Murphy but unfortunately it was as a result of an injured knee in the third to Nakamota that forced the dangerous striking to throw in the towel. Elsewhere on the card newcomer Tecia Torres (4-0) defeated Felice Herrig (9-5) and Scotland’s own Joanne Calderwood (8-0) defeated Katja Kankaanpaa (8-1-1) both by unanimous decisions.

Heading over to Europe, Cage Warriors 62 took place in Newcastle and despite a couple of last minute pull-outs, including their main event title fight, they still managed to put on a good show. UFC veteran Curt Warburton (13-4) made a statement in his Cage Warriors debut with a quick first round submission win over Wesley Murch (13-7). Warburton is now 6-1 since his release from the UFC in 2011. Undefeated fighter Chris Fishgold (10-0) defeated veteran French fighter Olivier Pastor (18-15) by unanimous decision, one can’t help but think that Fishgold is bound for great things in MMA.

Moving on to Eastern Europe to KSW 25 where Mamed Khalidov (28-4-2) handed Japanese legend Ryuta Sakurai (24-18-6) his first submission loss since 2005 to avenge one of the only blips on his stellar record. This win only adds weight to the claim that his is one of the best fighters on the planet that it not a part of the UFC roster.

Welterweight champ Aslambek Saidov (15-3) passed the toughest test of his career as he successfully defended his title against veteran Daniel Acacaio (30-14) beating him by unanimous decision in the co-main event of the evening.

An All-American heavyweight clash resulted in a big KO as Virgil Zwicker (12-3) gave Mike Hayes (19-9-1) the very first stoppage loss of his career. A right counter hook from Zwicker found its mark and dropped Hayes earlier in the first. A mixed result for UFC vets on the card as Oli Thompson (12-5) won with a TKO win over Kamil Walus (4-2) while Matt Horwich (28-22-1) fell short in a majority decision loss against Piotr Strus (9-2).

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