The World Series of Fighting returns on Saturday night as the promotion will be holding a fight card at the McClellan Conference Center in Sacramento, California 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 Rousimar Palhares make his first welterweight title defense as he is challenged by Jon Fitch. The co-main event will also be a title fight as Rick Glenn defends the featherweight title against Lance Palmer.
Below is a pre-fight statistical breakdown of the five fights that will take place on the main card broadcast on NBCSN.
Rousimar Palhares (16-6) vs. Jon Fitch (26-6-1)
Palhares won the WSOF welterweight title in March when he submitted Steve Carl by an inverted heel hook in the first round. The victory over Carl was his second straight victory and his last three wins have come by heel hook.
- His victory over Carl is the 2nd fastest stoppage in a title fight (69 seconds) and is the 3rd fastest submission in WSOF welterweight division history.
- 13 career wins by submission and 9 have come by heel hook.
- Holds a kneebar submission victory against current WSOF middleweight champion David Branch.
- His last 5 fights have ended in the first round and his total cage time in his last 2 fights is 1 minute, 40 seconds.
Fitch entered the WSOF last year and lost his debut to Josh Burkman by submission in 41 seconds. Since that defeat, he has won back to back fights including a victory over Dennis Hallman at WSOF 11 in July.
- Both of his victories in the WSOF have come by decision.
- 8-3-1 in his last 12 fights and all of those wins have come by decision.
- His last stoppage victory came at UFC Fight Night 10 against Roan Carneiro (7 years, 6 months ago).
Rick Glenn (15-2-1) vs. Lance Palmer (8-1)
Glenn became the second WSOF featherweight champion in June when he defeated Georgi Karakhanyan by TKO at the end of the second round. He is unbeaten in his last 13 fights (12-0-1) and 7 of those victories have come by TKO/KO.
- Has the most wins in WSOF featherweight division history (3).
- 13 wins by knockout or submission.
- 2 of his 3 wins in WSOF have come by knockout and this is the most in WSOF featherweight division history.
Saturday will mark the second time that Palmer has been in a WSOF featherweight title bout as he lost to Karakhanyan just over 1 year ago for the inaugural title. Since that defeat, he scored a submission victory at WSOF 10 against Nick LoBosco.
- 4 wins by submission.
- His first round victory over LoBosco was his third career win to come in the opening round.
- Trains out of Team Alpha Male in Sacramento.
Sheymon Moraes (6-0) vs. Gabriel Solorio (11-7)
Moraes is out of Team Nogueira and is one of the top bantamweight prospects. He made his professional debut in 2013 and returned in April after being away for over a year and a half.
- 4 wins by TKO/KO, including a 20-second win in his last fight.
- All of his TKO/KO victories have come in either the 1st or 2nd Round.
- Holds a victory over Pedro Nobre.
Solorio is returning to the WSOF after scoring a victory against Shawn Albrecht at WSOF 7 last year. Since that fight, he has gone 1-1 and is coming off a victory at CFFC 41 against Scott Heckman.
- 4 of his last 6 fights have ended in the 1st Round.
- 5 wins by knockout or submission.
- 6 of his 7 defeats have come by submission.
- 6-0 when the fight does to the decision.
Brenson Hansen (6-2) vs. Josh Berkovic (5-0)
Hansen has won 3 of his 4 fights in the WSOF and is coming off a victory in March against Boostayre Nefarios at WSOF 9. Two of his three wins in the promotion have come by decision.
- Tied with 3 other fighters for the 2nd most wins in WSOF lightweight division history.
- 5 wins by decision.
- Only career knockout victory came at WSOF 2 against Josh Montaivo.
Berkovic is making his promotional debut and four of his five victories have come by stoppage. His last fight took place in February a he defeated Anthony Avila by guillotine choke submission in the first round.
- Last 3 wins have come by submission in the first round.
- 2 of his last 3 wins have come in under 2 minutes.
- His only decision victory came in his professional debut.
Lewis Gonzalez (9-1) vs. Justin Buchholz (15-8)
After starting his career with 9 victories, Gonzalez lost his first MMA bout in August as he was defeated by Luis Palomino at WSOF 12. He is 1-1 in the promotion and the victory came against Antonio McKee.
- 7 victories by knockout or submission.
- Holds a submission victory over Justin Baesman, who will be on the preliminary card.
- Started his career with 3 straight 1st Round victories.
Buchholz will step into the cage for the first time since September of last year. That defeat snapped a three fight losing streak and the defeat came against current UFC fighter Clay Collard.
- Coach at Team Alpha Male.
- 13 wins by knockout or submission.
- 6 of his 8 defeats have come by stoppage.
The current WSOF 16: Palhares vs. Fitch fight card lineup is below.
Main Card: (NBCSN – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Rousimar Palhares (16-6) vs. Jon Fitch (26-6-1)
Rick Glenn (15-2-1) vs. Lance Palmer (8-1)
Sheymon Moraes (6-0) vs. Gabriel Solorio (11-7)
Brenson Hansen (6-2) vs. Josh Berkovic (5-0)
Lewis Gonzalez (9-1) vs. Justin Buchholz (15-8)
Preliminary Card: (NBCSports.com – 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT)
Dave Huckaba (21-7) vs. Josue Lugo (5-1)
David Mitchell (16-4) vs. Justin Baesman (15-5-1)
Martin Sano (4-0) vs. Dominic Waters (6-2)
David Douglas (8-5) vs. Sinjen Smith (2-0)
Erick Sanchez (1-1) vs. Drey Mitchell (2-2)
Jason Powell (1-1) vs. Chris Avila (1-1)
Joseph Morales (0-0) vs. Christian Espinosa (2-0)
Justin Durham (0-0) vs. Dylan Blakesly (0-0)