The WSOF returns on Friday as the promotion will be holding a fight card at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut and the main card will air live on NBCSN.
The event will kick off with the online preliminary card on WSOF.com at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT with the main card on NBCSN will begin at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT and will be headlined by a light heavyweight tournament semifinal as David Branch meets Ronny Markes.
Below is a pre-fight statistical breakdown of the five fights that will take place on the main card broadcast on NBCSN.
David Branch (15-3) vs. Ronny Markes (15-3)
Branch is the current WSOF middleweight champion and he is moving up to the light heavyweight division in hopes of being a two-division champion in the promotion. He will enter this fight on a five fight winning streak and all of those wins have come in the WSOF.
- 2nd most wins in WSOF history (5).
- His 4th Round TKO victory over Yushin Okami at WSOF 15 is the latest stoppage in WSOF title fight history.
- He became the inaugural WSOF middleweight champion with a submission win over Jesse Taylor and this is 2nd fastest submission in the promotions 185 pound division history.
Markes won his WSOF debut last year when he defeated Cully Butterfield by unanimous decision at WSOF 12. The victory snapped a two fight losing streak and it was his first win since defeating Andrew Craig at UFC on FX 7 in early 2013.
- His last five victories have come by decision and his last stoppage win came in 2011 against Diogo Lima at Shooto Brazil 22.
- Undefeated in fights going to the scorecards (6-0).
- Nine wins by TKO/KO or Submission.
Nick Newell (11-1) vs. Joe Condon (12-7)
Newell returns to the WSOF cage for the first time since July of last year, which was a 2nd Round defeat against lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. Prior to that defeat, he had gone 2-0 in the WSOF and both of those wins came by stoppage in the first round.
- Has the 2nd and 3rd fastest submission in WSOF lightweight division history (1:21 vs. Sabah Fadai, 2:07 vs. Keon Caldwell).
- Tied for 2nd most submissions in WSOF history with Georgi Karakhanyan.
- 3rd most wins in WSOF lightweight division history (2).
Condon made his WSOF debut in January when he defeated Jonathan Nunez at WSOF 17 by submission. He has alternated wins and losses in his last five fights and he will be looking for consecutive wins for the first time since 2012.
- All of his stoppage wins have come by submission (5).
- His last two victories have come by guillotine choke submission.
- Record of 6-4 when the fight goes to the scorecard.
Ben Fodor (5-0-1) vs. Emmanuel Walo (7-2-1)
Fodor aka “Phoenix Jones” was recently signed by the WSOF and this will be his promotional debut. He is coming off a technical submission win in February against Jason Novelli and it was his second career victory by submission.
- Turned pro in 2013 and the draw on his record came in late 2014 against Tyson Cunningham.
- Two of his victories came in the promotion Combat Games MMA against Justin Larsson.
- Both of his submission victories came in the 3rd Round.
Walo is coming off a defeat to CES MMA welterweight champion Chuck O’Neil and the defeat snapped a nine fight unbeaten streak. This will be is 2nd fight in the WSOF as he defeated Tenyeh Dixon by disqualification at WSOF 13 last year.
- Four of his seven wins are by decision.
- Seven of his ten fights have made it to the 3rd Round.
- Two wins by stoppage.
Steve Mocco (4-1) vs. Juliano Coutinho (6-1)
Mocco lost his WSOF debut last year when he lost a decision to current WSOF heavyweight champion Smealinho Rama at WSOF Canada. This will be his first fight since that defeat, which was 413 days ago.
- The 413 day layoff between fights is the longest layoff in his MMA career.
- Three of his four wins have come by submission.
- Submission wins via kimura, north-south choke, and arm-triangle choke.
Coutinho has won six in a row since losing his pro debut in 2009 against Pat Bennett. His most recent win came in January against John Orr at Cage Titans FC 17.
- All of his wins have come by stoppage and four of those have come in the first round.
- Two wins in under one minute.
- Both of his submission wins have come via rear-naked choke.
Ozzy Dugulubgov (6-2) vs. Lucas Montoya (8-3)
Dugulubgov has won three of his four fights in the WSOF and the wins have come against Chris Wade, Andrew Osbourne, and Keon Caldwell. His last two wins have come by stoppage, including a knockout victory against Caldwell.
- Won five of his last six fights.
- Five of his six wins have come by TKO/KO or Submission.
- Holds a win over current UFC lightweight Chris Wade.
Montoya enters this fight on a four fight winning streak and he won his WSOF debut in August of last year when he defeated Jimmy Spicuzza by TKO. Three of his last four wins have come by stoppage and he is coming off a win against Koffi Adzitso.
- After starting his career 1-2, he had gone 7-1 in his last eight fights.
- Five wins by submission.
- Eight of his eleven fights have ended in the first round.
The current WSOF 20: Branch vs. Markes fight card is below.
Main Card: (NBCSN – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
David Branch (15-3) vs. Ronny Markes (15-3)
Nick Newell (11-1) vs. Joe Condon (12-7)
Ben Fodor (5-0-1) vs. Emmanuel Walo (7-2-1)
Steve Mocco (4-1) vs. Juliano Coutinho (6-1)
Ozzy Dugulubgov (6-2) vs. Lucas Montoya (8-3)
Preliminary Card: (WSOF.com – 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT)
Islam Mamedov (10-1-0) vs. Leon Davis (5-2-0)
Chris Foster (8-3) vs. Saul Almeida (17-5)
Matt Secor (5-2-0) vs. Chip Moraza-Pollard (9-7-0)
Darren Mima (5-3) vs. Johnny Campbell (11-5, 1NC)
Brett Oteri (12-6-0) vs. Steve Skrzat (7-7-0)