Author: Luke Irwin

The Sports Daily > Undercard Superstar The Betting Window for October 20-22 Here at Undercard Superstar, we’re in the business of your business! Just follow our sound betting advice advice, you, too, can see your pride and joy you’ve talked up for years get bullied for 48 minutes on national television! As usual, we’ll take a hundred dollars and divide it among five fights. Let’s make some cashola. Heather Hardy -315 over Kristina Williams ($40) Gegard Mousasi -600 over Alexander Shlemenko ($20) Tyrone Nurse +230 over Jack Catterall ($5) Ryota Murata -900 over Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam ($30) Josh Warrington -950...

  Contributor: Nolan Howell   Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares took to the StubHub Center in Carson, California intent on setting a rematch of their 2015 fight where Santa Cruz took a majority decision. Standing in front of them were two tough challengers, a game brawler in Chris Avalos for Santa Cruz and a younger prospect in Andres Gutierrez for Mares. WBA Super World Featherweight Champion Leo Santa Cruz found some trouble early against Chris Avalos as Avalos was active inside against the lanky and looping punches of Santa Cruz, but a right hook stiffened Avalos a bit...

  WBC World Junior Middleweight Championship: Jermell Charlo (c) (29-0) vs. Erickson Lubin (18-0) Nolan Howell: Lubin is the less tested fighter, but has looked more impressive after a TKO on Jorge Cota. Charlo has also demonstrated power in his last three outings. Overall, I’d learn towards Charlo as the more tested and well-rounded fighter, who has shown off some power after establishing himself technically. Lubin has power and just isn’t quite as sharp. Charlo survives an early onslaught and cruises down the stretch. Jermell Charlo by unanimous decision.     IBF World Junior Middleweight Championship: Jarrett Hurd (c)...

  WBA Super World Featherweight Championship: Leo Santa Cruz (c) (33-1-1) vs. Chris Avalos (27-5) Nolan Howell: This card feels more like showcases for Mares and Santa Cruz and boy, does the matchmaking really give it away. Avalos isn’t challenger material at 2-3 in his last five fights and Santa Cruz is simply above this level of competition at this point, even if it is a stepping stone to a potential fight with his co-main event counterpart. Santa Cruz picks away at him easy. Leo Santa Cruz by fifth-round TKO.     WBA World Featherweight Championship: Abner Mares (c)...

The Sports Daily > Undercard Superstar Your Weekend in Combat Sports As always, programming is listed in ESTLive fights are in BOLD.Premiere programming is in ITALICS.MMA programming is in ORANGE.Boxing programming is in RED.Kickboxing/Muay Thai/Karate programming is in BLUE.Wrestling/Jiu Jitsu/Grappling programming is in PURPLE.Movies are in AQUA.Misc. combat sports programming is in GREEN. Friday October 13 12:30am: Tough Guys (Showtime Extreme)1:00am: UFC 216 Prelims (Fox Sports 2)3:00am: UFC Ultimate Knockouts: Highlight-Reel Knockouts (Fox Sports 2)3:30am: UFC 210 (Fox Sports 1)6:30am: UFC Ultimate Knockouts: Best of 2014 (Fox Sports 2)7:00am: UFC Ultimate Knockouts: Best of Lighter Weights (Fox Sports 2)9:30am: UFC...

  Early every week, UCS’s Luke Irwin will list the twenty-five fights he’s most looking forward to catching the most, based on absolutely no analytical data or substantial criteria. Just like in Your Weekend in Combat Sports, fights are color-coded to differentiate.   MMA is in ORANGE. Boxing is in RED. Muay Thai/Kickboxing/Karate is in BLUE. Grappling/Jiu-Jitsu/Wrestling is in PURPLE.   25. 53kg Catchweight Bout: Liu Jia (23-6) vs. Zaza Sor. Aree (33-6) [Glory 46] 24. Lightweight Bout: Ivan Redkach (20-3-1) vs. Raynell Williams (12-0) [Premier Boxing Champions on FOX] 23. Junior Welterweight Bout: Antonio DeMarco (32-6-1) vs. Eddie...

    1. Demetrious Johnson: Is officially the greatest champion in UFC history, and he punctuated it with an absolute sonning of Ray Borg before pulling the Mighty Mouse Special, a fifth-round submission.       2. Tony Ferguson: Looked utterly fantastic in a dominant performance over Kevin Lee, finally claiming UFC gold, and called out Conor McGregor to unify the lightweight championships.       3. Darrion Caldwell: Despite roughly 281 fence-grabs and bizarre gameplanning from Eduardo Dantas, Caldwell’s coronation is finally complete, and is the new Bellator Bantamweight champion, breaking the belt free from the Dantas/Galvao/Warren triangle....

  Lightweight Bout: Anthony Crolla (31-6-3) vs. Ricky Burns (41-6-1) Nolan Howell: Burns has more wear on the tires and is the older fighter, but Crolla also came off two fights with Jorge Linares that could wear him down. Crolla proved to be game each time though and while Burns shouldn’t be ashamed of a loss to Julius Indongo, it seems like he is at the edge of a downswing while Crolla has time to maintain standing. Look for Crolla to pressure Burns and try to work the body to widen the score down the stretch. Anthony Crolla by...

  Here at Undercard Superstar, we’re in the business of your business! Just follow our sound betting advice advice, you, too, can buy front row tickets to watch your back-to-back Stanley Cup winners start the season off with a reckless abandon and domi–what’s this? I’m being handed something…   Glad that’s over. pic.twitter.com/hUmNsSbnl5 — Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 6, 2017 Huh.  Ok.   As usual, we’ll take a hundred dollars and divide it among five fights. Let’s make some cashola.   Eduardo Dantas -115 over Darrion Caldwell ($10) Daniel Straus -130 over Emmanuel Sanchez ($5) Tom Duquesnoy -165 over...

    Interim UFC Lightweight Championship: Kevin Lee (16-2) vs. Tony Ferguson (22-3) Nolan Howell: Ferguson seems like the more dynamic fighter here and he has tested his skills against better fighters. While Lee may be quicker and have a more aesthetically pleasing grappling game, Ferguson’s power grappling and aggression have been equally effective throughout his career. It will be an uphill climb for Lee, who will have to gameplan against the aggression and pacing of Ferguson. It is ultimately hard to pick the underdog here given the step up. Tony Ferguson by unanimous decision. Luke Irwin: Ferguson via...

  The championship fight. The pinnacle of achievement across combat sports for centuries. A premiere attraction that draws millions every year. But not all title bouts are created equally. So which title bouts every week are the ones to watch? We’ll look over every title fight from across the combat sports landscape and give you the five best based on five criteria:   Competitiveness: Is this an even matchup? Or just a warm body to throw at a champion? It’s a title fight, so we want the best possible at that division in that promotion. Excitement: How exciting will...

  Welcome back to Around the Combat World, where fighters that you know or should know competed away from your television set over the weekend.     Rocky Fielding defeated David Brophy [R1 TKO] Dereck Chisora defeated Robert Filipovic [R5 TKO] Guadalupe Martinez Guzman defeated Carlota Santos [R9 TKO] Cosmo Alexandre def. Mikhail Romanchuk [KO, Superstar Fight 9] Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai lost to Tyjani Beztati [UD, Glory 45] Massaro Glunder lost to Zakaria Zouggary [UD, Glory 45] Yousri Belgaroui defeated Jason Wilnis [R1 Stoppage, Glory 45] Superbon Banchamek defeated Mohamed Khamal [Decision, Enfusion Live 53] Jahfarr Wilnis lost to Luis...