MMA Rundown: September 18th-20th - CFFC, Shooto, ACA and DEEP back in the saddle
You wanted more fights? There’s a whole bunch to choose from.
Cage Fury had back to back events this week, but we’ll only focus on the Friday event. The headliner is a banger with Canada’s Mike Hill (not to be confused with Josh Hill, 11-4, 1 draw) meeting Minnesota’s Bobby Lee (11-4). Hill’s on a three-fight win streak since 2015, but had a slew of cancelled fights in the interim. Lee’s stretch of 12 fights in RFA/LFA (8-4) came to an end last year, and he notched a submission win in late 2019.
Also on the card are former UFC fighter Sean Soriano (12-6) and former ACB/ACA fighter Ramazan Kuramagomedov (7-0).
CFFC starts at 7:00pm EST, streaming live and exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.
Mexico’s LUX MMA outfit has been a welcome surprise in showcasing lesser-known Mexican talent and setting up some very compelling and competitive matchups. If you haven’t seen them yet, it should totally be something to check out for those that enjoy gritty bouts with great athletes and very smart grappling.
The main event is for the inaugural flyweight title between Alessandro Costa (7-2) meets Luis Solorzano (5-5), and former UFC fighter Masio Fullen (13-7) meets Colombia’s Dumar Roa (14-7). Alejandro Marroquin (7-5, 1 draw) trains under current UFC fighter Rodrigo Vargas at the Mexican Pride gym, and he’ll be up against former Combate Americas talent Pablo “El Gallo Negro“ Sabori.
Another former Combate Americas fighter will be on the card as Daniel Zellhuber (8-0) looks to keep his record intact against fellow lightweight Miguel Arizmendi (8-4).
Lux 010 also starts at 7:00pm EST, streaming simultaneously on UFC Fight Pass.
Shooto Japan is alive and well, and their action fights are, well... just that. Great action fights. No-frills action, very little ceremony, lots of big clashes. Featherweight gold graces the top of the card as Takashi Nakayama (8-3, 1 draw) defends his Pacific Rim Featherweight title against Keisuke Sasu(6-1, 1 draw).
This card’s also got flyweight action as Junji Ito (not the manga artist, (17-8, 2 draws) meets Tateo Iino (14-6, 1 draw) while another pair of featherweights duel in the Nobuki Fujii (20-11, 3 draws) vs Joji Goto (10-3, 1 draw).
Shooto 2020, vol 6 starts Friday night into Saturday morning at 12:45am EST.
ACA continues to boast one of the most impressive talent rosters on the planet, and this weekend they’ve got a handful of must-watch battles on deck. Former Bellator fighter Tiger Sarnavskiy (37-7) meets Abdul-Aziz “Lion“ Abdulvakhabov (17-2), coming off back to back wins. One of those was this absolutely miserable choke of Brian Foster last year. A feline showdown for the ages, it’s also two of the most technical lightweights on the Russian scene doing work and a fight that has virtually no chance of being bad.
Lightweights also make up the co-mai for this, as Yusup Raisov (16-1) faces Artem Reznikov (21-6), who has five north-south choke wins on his record.
ACA 111 starts at 2:00pm EST.
Japan is also giving us DEEP this weekend, as DEEP 97 goes down in Tokyo.
DEEP’s featherweight championship will be disputed by Satoshi Yamasu (11-4) vs grappling wildman Juntaro Ushiko (17-7, 1 draw). The women’s microweight title (contested at 97lbs) will take place between Mizuki Oshiro (2-1) and Saori Oshima (2-1).
Finally, M-1, DEEP, PRIDE, VTJ and Strikeforce vet Daisuke Nakamura (28-19, 1 draw) meets Tatsunao Nagakura (14-9).
DEEP 97 Impact starts at 5:00am EST on Sunday morning.