Author: Luke Irwin

By: Luke Irwin | July 14, 2018 Interim WBC World Junior Welterweight Championship: Regis Prograis (c) (21-0) vs. Juan Jose Velasco (20-0) [Top Rank on ESPN] Nolan Howell: Prograis is the best fighter in his division not named Terence Crawford and there’s no shame in that. This is simply a showcase to tie in with Pacquiao and Prograis faced two much more impressive opponents last time out, finishing them both. Regis Prograis by fifth-round TKO. Vacant WBC Continental Americas Lightweight Championship: Teofimo Lopez (9-0) vs. William Silva (25-1) Nolan: Lopez is the Top Rank prospect meant to get the...

By: Luke Irwin | July 13, 2018 Heavyweight Bout: Blagoi Ivanov (16-1) vs. Junior dos Santos (18-5) Nolan Howell: While Ivanov has looked impressive and could catch a fighter nearing the twilight of his career due to having some of his chin taken away in brutal losses, dos Santos is at another level compared to anyone else Ivanov has faced and won’t be an easy takedown with his fencing-like approach to boxing footwork. Dos Santos should be able to pick apart the shorter fighter with his boxing and catch him coming in. Junior dos Santos by second-round TKO. Welterweight...

By: Luke Irwin | July 13, 2018 Bellator Featherweight Championship: Patricio Freire (c) (26-4) vs. Daniel Weichel (39-9) Nolan Howell: While both are coming off more than year-long layoffs, Weichel didn’t look as impressive in his last few outings and he has already lost to Pitbull. Pitbull can be beaten by bigger wrestlers who can bully him in the likes of Daniel Straus or Ben Henderson, but Weichel doesn’t have that ability and relies more on catching submissions. Simply put, there’s not enough improvement from Weichel to close the gap that was there before. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire by first-round...

By: Luke Irwin | July 12, 2018 Bellator Women’s Featherweight Championship: Julia Budd (c) (11-2) vs. Talita Nogueira (7-0) Nolan Howell: While Nogueira could very well use her elite BJJ background to take Budd down and get the submission or ground and pound stoppage via positioning, the only person to submit Budd was one of the greatest women’s MMA fighters of all-time and she isn’t an easy takedown. The gulf on the feet is just as wide for Budd as a striker and look for her to play keep-away while wearing down Nogueira on the feet. Julia Budd by...

By: Luke Irwin | July 12, 2018 Here at Undercard Superstar, we’re in the business of your business! Just follow our sound betting advice advice, you, too, can afford to put an MMA card inside a centuries-old historical venue. Hahaha, could you even imag-HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Let’s make some cashola. Rocky Fielding +270 over Tyron Zeuge ($5) Blagoi Ivanov +145 over Junior dos Santos ($20) Darren Elkins +215 over Alex Volkanovski ($25) Marion Reneau -125 over Cat Zingano ($30) Myles Jury +170 over Chad Mendes ($20) Zeuge has had too many close calls fighting guys that aren’t Fielding’s caliber,...

By: Luke Irwin | July 10, 2018 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...

By: Luke Irwin | July 8, 2018 Contributor: Nolan Howell UFC 226 in Las Vegas, Nevada featured as close to a superfight you could have in the UFC these days in the main event as UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic defended his title against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier, making his return to the weight class after over four years. Coming into the fight off coaching what could be the penultimate season of The Ultimate Fighter together, the fighters were both in the middle of runs solidifying their legend in the history books of the UFC. Miocic broke...

By: Luke Irwin | July 6, 2018 UFC Heavyweight Championship: Stipe Miocic (c) (18-2) vs. Daniel Cormier (20-1) Nolan: Probably the closest the UFC can come to a “superfight” these days, it comes with a heavyweight champion in his prime in Miocic taking on the light heavyweight champion who is closer to his twilight than his peak in Cormier. Against Miocic, Cormier will be at a size disadvantage regardless of the weigh-in as Miocic’s height and eight-inch reach advantage should keep him from getting bullied inside by Cormier, in addition to being used to fighting with the heavyweight frame...

By: Luke Irwin | July 6, 2018 Middleweight Bout: Brad Tavares (17-4) vs. Israel Adesanya (13-0) Nolan Howell: Tavares is a decent enough wrestler to get this to the ground if he wants to, but his game relies more on striking and Adesanya has shown fairly capable of shrugging off takedowns with his kickboxing angles. Having faced better wrestlers than the likes of Tavares, Adesanya will be able to keep him away and pepper him as he comes in with his reach advantage. Adesanya wears him down and gets him out. Israel Adesanya by second-round TKO. The Ultimate Fighter...

By: Luke Irwin | July 4, 2018 Here at Undercard Superstar, we’re in the business of your business! Just follow our sound betting advice advice, you, too, can shamelessly ring-hunt and not have to worry about money or dignity! Let’s make some cashola. Israel Adesanya -160 over Brad Tavares ($20) Gokhan Saki -160 over Khalil Roundtree ($20) Francis Ngannou -375 over Derrick Lewis ($5) Andy Vences -2250 over Frank De Alba ($50) Daniel Cormier +205 over Stipe Miocic ($5) Tavares is a gamer, and a high-level gatekeeper, but Style Bender is on an absolute roll lately and is posing...

By: Luke Irwin | June 22, 2018 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.Misc./Combination combat sports programming is in GREEN. Friday June 22 8:00am: The Battle Muay Thai (YouTube)2:30pm: A1 World Grand Prix: Algerie ($9.99 Fite.tv)8:00pm: Fight To Win Pro 77 (FloGrappling)9:00pm: Legacy Fighting Alliance 43 (AXS)10:00pm: Claressa Shields vs. Hanna Gabriels/Christina Hammer vs. Tori Nelson (Showtime) Saturday June 23 4:30am: UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Edwards Prelims (UFC Fight Pass)4:30am: BOA Super...

By: Luke Irwin | June 19, 2018   1. Errol Spence Jr.: Took less than a full round to turn Carlos Ocampo’s insides into soup and retain his IBF world welterweight strap.   2. Daniel Roman: And still WBA junior featherweight champion after vanquishing his toughest test yet in Moises Flores.   3. Rodtang Jitmuangnon/Tenshin Nasukawa: They get the dual-treatment here because of the absolute classic they put on. In the end, Tenshin took the victory by an extra round decision, but Jitmuangnon gave him his toughest test to date, and while Rodtang is signed to OneFC, they’re both...

By: Luke Irwin | June 16, 2018 IBF World Welterweight Championship: Errol Spence Jr. (c) (23-0) vs. Carlos Ocampo (22-0) Nolan Howell: Errol Spence Jr. is coming off a corner stoppage title defense victory against Lamont Peterson and a KO victory to win the title against Kell Brook. Needless to say, Spence is on a roll and stopping either of those fighters is a feat in itself. Up pops mandatory challenger Carlos Ocampo from Mexico, a 22 year old undefeated prospect himself fighting for the first time in the United States. Needless to say, this is a walk for...

By: Luke Irwin | June 15, 2018 Here at Undercard Superstar, we’re in the business of your business! Just follow our sound betting advice advice, you, too, can lie, involving your child to score woke points, then delete it and claim victory! Let’s make some cashola. Daniel Roman -1100 over Moises Flores ($40) Gavin McDonnell -1400 over Stuart Hall ($30) Lewis Ritson -800 over Paul Hyland Jr. ($20) Charlie Edwards -450 over Anthony Nelson ($5) Arfan Iqbal -260 over Simon Vallily ($5) I would have loved to lay some coin on Errol Spence, but not at -10000, no way,...