World Series of Fighting continues to trudge on with a rather shocking amount of events, most of which have been stacked. This show tonight (Dec. 7, 2013) however, is a little bit weaker on the star power, but there should be some good fights. In the main event of WSOF 7, top featherweights collide as Lance Palmer (7-0) brings his grinding wrestling against Georgi Karakhanyan (22-3-1). You may remember Karakhanyan from Dream, Bellator and from his first round submission over Waylon Lowe at WSOF 5. Karakhanyan is a good overall fighter with solid BJJ and that tough, Armenian power in his throws and general demeanor. Palmer is a wrestler, and he’s not ashamed of it. Palmer will shoot, shoot, shoot for the double and not stop until his opponent is on his back. That doesn’t necessarily bode poorly for Karakhanyan, who has submission skills from every and any position, but Palmer revels in his wrestling mastery, and isn’t afraid of throwing guillotines around the necks of his opponents. On the feet, Karakhanyan has the advantage, but Palmer has made it known that he won’t be keeping anything standing for long. World Series of Fighting has set up a four-man tournament to crown a middleweight champion, with Dave Branch defeating Danillo Villefort in the last show, and Jesse Taylor (26-9) looking to extend his winning streak to seven, then move onto the finals with a win over the tough Elvis Mutapcic (13-2). Elvis is on a five fight winning streak himself, and the 27-year-old former MFC middleweight champion is making his WSOF debut. Mutapcic is a well-rounded fighter with strong hands, brutal leg kicks and decent wrestling. Taylor, you may remember, is the Team Quest journeyman who has fantastic wrestling and is fairly dangerous to certain opponents everywhere. Taylor hasn’t won a fight via strikes since Drew Fickett in 2008, and he will likely employ his wrestling once again against Mutapcic, then meticulously advance position into a submission. Mutapcic does have good offensive grappling as well, and if he can put Taylor on HIS back, well, the fight could easily go to Mutapcic. The undefeated and indomitable Nick Newell (10-0) will fight Saba Fadai (7-2), another MFC vet who is making their way to WSOF. Newell, as you surely know, only has one arm, but that doesn’t hinder him one bit. He has stifling takedowns and an incredible submission game, especially when fights first start. Newell has finished nine out of his 10 wins, with seven submissions which all also happen to be in the first round. In other words, Fadai needs to bring Newell into deep waters in order to survive. In the first minutes Newell is going to bull rush Fadai, perhaps eat a punch or two, then take him down and do his thing. If Fadai can stop that, and that’s a big “if,” he might have a chance. Light heavyweights open the show, as UFC vet Kalib Starnes (15-8-1) will trot his way into the WSOF cage on a three-fight win streak against Dwayne Lewis (13-8). Both men have seen their best days behind them, but both could also pull a KO out of their pocket if the moon and stars align. Between the two of them, they’ve only seen the judges in victory five times total, so both will be looking to finish the fight, probably in the middle of the cage. Lewis has only had three fights in the last two and a half years, while Starnes is on a decent run against less-than-stellar competition. This could be a slugfest, or a boring, stalling match against the cage.
