The World Series of Fighting returns on Saturday night as the promotion will be holding a fight card at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and the main card will air live on NBCSN.
The event will kick off with the online preliminary card on NBCSports.com at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT with five 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 former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields looking to secure a potential title show as he meets Brian Foster.
Below is a pre-fight statistical breakdown of the five fights that will take place on the main card broadcast on NBCSN.
Jake Shields (30-7-1, 1NC) vs. Brian Foster (22-6)
Shields entered the World Series of Fighting last year and won his debut against Ryan Ford in October by submission in the first round. He is 4-1, 1NC in his last six fights and is 3-1 since returning to welterweight.
- His submission win over Ford was his first submission victory since 2009 when he defeated Robbie Lawler in Strikeforce.
- Eleven career victories by submission and six of them have come by rear-naked choke.
- Held a title in Shooto, Elite XC, and Strikeforce.
Foster will be making his promotional debut and is currently on a four fight winning streak. During his winning streak, three of the four wins have come by stoppage and two of those have come by armbar submission.
- Won eight of his last nine fights and five of those have come by submission.
- Went 3-2 in the UFC and scored victories against Brock Larson, Forrest Petz, and Matt Brown.
- Five of his six defeats have come by submission and holds twelve submission wins.
Brian Cobb (20-8) vs. Johnny Nunez (5-0)
Cobb was on the inaugural World Series of Fighting show in 2012 and has gone 1-1 in the promotion. He won his debut in the promotion against Ronys Torres and lost to current lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in June of 2013.
- First fight since losing to Gaethje (582 days ago) and this is the longest layoff of his career.
- 5-2 in his last seven fights and two of those wins came by rear-naked choke submission.
- Twelve wins by submission.
Nunez is out of Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas and won his World Series of Fighting debut last year when he defeated Ozzy Dugulubgov by split decision. It was his second win by decision and this is his first fight since that victory.
- Two of his three stoppage victories have come in the first round.
- Gone to the decision in two of his last three fights.
- Only submission victory came in 2012 and was by brabo choke.
Krasimir Mladenov (11-0) vs. Brendan Kornberger (5-0)
Mladenov has won both of his fights in the World Series of Fighting by decision and the wins came against Kendrick Miree and Angel DeAnda. Prior to his last two wins, his previous three wins came by submission.
- Has the second most wins in World Series of Fighting middleweight history.
- Four wins by submission and three of those have come by keylock.
- Three victories in the first round.
Kornberger is from Vancouver and he has only gone the distance once in his career. He won his World Series of Fighting debut in 2013 as he defeated Micah Brakefield by TKO in the second round.
- Four of his five wins have come by TKO.
- Enters this fight following a TKO win in October against Brad Stewart.
- Two victories in the first round.
Bryson Hansen (7-2) vs. Rudy Morales (3-1)
Hansen is 1-1 in the World Series of Fighting and he enters this fight following a defeat last year against Matt Sayles. Prior to the defeat to Sayles, he has won back to back fights by TKO in the first round.
- Five wins by TKO/KO including a suplex knockout in 2009 against Mike Pedro.
- His 46 second win against Sean Cantor at World Series of Fighting 9 is the second fastest win in the promotions bantamweight division history.
- Started his career 5-0 before losing to current UFC bantamweight Russell Doane in 2010.
After losing his professional debut in 2013, Morales has won three in a row including a win over Jimmy Jones at Bellator 115. All of his fights in his professional career have gone to the third round and his last two wins have come by split decision.
- First career victory came by knockout in 2013 when he defeated Tommy Gavin.
- This will be his World Series of Fighting debut.
- Only defeat came against Roman Isbell, who he also lost against as an amateur.
Adam Cella (6-2) vs. Danny Davis Jr. (10-8-1)
Since his exit from the UFC, Cella has won two of three fights and both victories have come by stoppage in the first round. His last win came in October as he defeated Anthony Lemon by submission.
- Only official fight came at UFC on FUEL TV 9 and was submitted by Tor Troeng.
- All of his wins have come by stoppage (3 TKO/KO, 3 Submissions) and in the first round.
- Four of his wins have come in under 90 seconds.
After starting his career 6-8-1, Davis Jr. is currently on a four fight winning streak and his last two wins have come in the World Series of Fighting. Both of his wins in the promotion have come by decision, including a win last year against Jorge Lopez.
- Four wins by TKO/KO or Submission.
- Five of his eight defeats have come by submission.
- Two victories in under 30 seconds.
The current WSOF 17: Shields vs. Foster fight card lineup is below.
Main Card: (NBCSN – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Jake Shields (30-7-1) vs. Brian Foster (22-6)
Brian Cobb (20-8) vs. Johnny Nunez (5-0)
Krasimir Mladenov (11-0) vs. Brendan Kornberger (5-0)
Bryson Hansen (7-2) vs. Rudy Morales (3-1)
Adam Cella (6-2) vs. Danny Davis Jr. (10-8-1)
Preliminary Card: (NBCSports.com – 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT)
Gil Guardado (3-1) vs. Sinjen Smith (2-0)
Joe Condon (11-7) vs. Jimmy Spicuzza (5-2)
Soslan Abanokov (4-3) vs. Jordan Rinaldi (8-4)
Donavon Frelow (2-0) vs. Taylor McCorriston (8-6)
Jamie Point (1-0) vs. Trey Williams (0-0)