The World Series of Fighting returns on Saturday night as the promotion will be holding a fight card at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida and the main card will air live on NBCSN.
The event will kick off with the online preliminary card on NBCSports.com at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT with eight fights and the main card on NBCSN will begin at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
The main card will be headlined by a title bout as David Branch defends the middleweight title for the first time against former UFC title challenger Yushin Okami.
Also on the main card, Justin Gaethje defends the lightweight title against Melvin Guillard, and Jessica Aguilar makes her second strawweight title defense against Kalindra Faria.
Below is a pre-fight statistical breakdown of the four fights that will take place on the main card broadcast on NBCSN.
David Branch (14-3) vs. Yushin Okami (30-8)
Branch won the inaugural middleweight title in June when he submitted Jesse Taylor with a d’arce choke. It was his fourth straight victory and it was his first victory by submission since 2010 when he used a rear-naked choke to defeat Derrick Mehman in a 190 pound catchweight bout in Bellator.
– His submission victory against Taylor is the 2nd fastest submission in WSOF middleweight division history.
– Has the most wins in WSOF middleweight division history and tied for third most wins in the promotions history.
-8 wins by stoppage (4 TKO/KO’s, 4 Submissions).
Okami made his WSOF debut in March after exiting the UFC and submitted Svetlozar Savov with an arm-triangle choke. He has won four of his last five fights and two of those wins have come by stoppage.
– 15 wins by stoppage (10 TKO/KO’s, 4 5 Submissions).
– His submission win over Savov was his first submission victory since UFC 66 (10/30/2006) against Rory Singer.
– Notable Wins: Anderson Silva (DQ), Alan Belcher, Mark Munoz, Nate Marquardt, and Hector Lombard.
Justin Gaethje (12-0) vs. Melvin Guillard (32-13-2, 2NC)
Gaethje entered the WSOF in 2013 and became the inaugural lightweight champion at the beginning of this year when he defeated Richard Patishnock by TKO in the first round. He successfully defended the title in January when he defeated Nick Newell by TKO in the second round.
– 2nd most wins in WSOF history and can tie Marlon Moraes for most wins with a victory on Saturday.
– His defeat over Patishnock at WSOF 8 is the 3rd fastest victory in the promotions lightweight division history.
– All of his WSOF victories (5) have come by TKO/KO and this is the most in the history of WSOF.
After exiting the UFC earlier this year, Guillard signed with the WSOF and made his debut in July against JZ Cavalacante. He won the fight in the 2nd round by TKO and it was his first victory in nearly one year.
– 21 wins by TKO/KO.
– 9 of 13 defeats have been by submission.
– Notable Wins: Rob Emerson, Dennis Siver, Gleison Tibau, and Jeremy Stephens.
Jessica Aguilar (18-4) vs. Kalindra Faria (15-3-1)
Aguilar became the inaugural WSOF women’s strawweight champion in January as she defeated Alida Gray by submission. She came back five months later at WSOF 10 and successfully defended the title against Emi Fujino with a decision victory.
– 8 wins by submission.
– Currently on a 9 fight winning streak.
– Holds a split decision victory over TUF 20 #1 seed Carla Esparza.
Faria is currently on a eleven fight winning streak and this is her WSOF debut. During her winning streak, six of the victories have come by stoppage and three of those wins came by armbar submission.
– 10 wins by TKO/KO or Submission.
– 4th fight of 2014 and two of her wins this year have come by decision.
– 2 of her 3 defeats have come by submission.
Jorge Patino (35-15-2) vs. Eric Reynolds (18-8)
Patino joined the promotion at the beginning of this year and lost his debut to Luis Palomino by knockout at WSOF 8. He has gone 8-2-1 in his last eleven and five of those win have come by stoppage.
– 28 wins by stoppage (12 TKO/KO’s, 16 Submissions).
– 23 victories in the 1st Round.
– Notable Wins: Ronaldo Souza, Pete Spratt, and Efrain Escudero
Reynolds has won five of his last seven fights and this is his first fight in 2014. His last fight came at the end of 2013 as he was submitted by Dom O’Grady at XFC 27.
– 8 wins by TKO/KO, 8 wins by submission.
– 2-2 in last 4 fights and both defeats came by submission.
– Defeated Anton Kuivanen last year to win the Cage lightweight title.
The current WSOF 15: Branch vs. Okami fight card lineup is below.
Main Card: (NBCSN – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
David Branch (14-3) vs. Yushin Okami (30-8)
Justin Gaethje (12-0) vs. Melvin Guillard (32-13-2, 2NC)
Jessica Aguilar (18-4) vs. Kalindra Faria (15-3-1)
Jorge Patino (35-15-2) vs. Eric Reynolds (18-8)
Preliminary Card: (NBCSports.com – 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT)
Javier Torres (6-2) vs. Maurice Salmon (3-3)
Troy Gerhart (6-3) vs. Anderson Hutchinson (3-0)
Ryan Keenan (5-2) vs. Jose Andres Cortes (1-0)
Tony Way (4-4) vs. Frederico Moncalo (1-1)
Hector Ochoa (2-2) vs. Robert Reed (1-0)
Reggie Pena (10-6) vs. Joe Johnson (3-7)
Christian Reed (0-2) vs. Steven Esquivel (4-6)
Matt Frevola (0-0) vs. Josh Zuckerman (0-0)