World Series of Fighting returns this Saturday for the first time in three months with their tenth event. The gap between events has allowed the organization to stack this event, as it is headlined by three title fights, and the main card is filled out with two additional intriguing bouts. WSOF’s middleweight, featherweight and women’s strawweight titles will be on the line, as their 185lb tournament finally comes to a close. Champions Georgi Karakhanyan and Jessica Aguilar will defend their titles for the first time each, while Jesse Taylor and David Branch will square off for the middleweight belt. In MMA, the term “journeyman” usually carries a negative connotation with it, but in regards to Jesse Taylor, the man has simply fought everywhere there is to fight, and done it a lot. When he dropped his lone UFC bout to C.B. Dollaway back in 2008, Taylor had a 6-3 record, and coming in to this fight he is 27-9. That means he’s fought 27 times in the past six years and gone 21-6 in those bouts, not bad. He faces another UFC veteran in David Branch who had a slightly longer tenure with Zuffa. Branch went 2-2 in the organization but was cut in large part because of his style, which is not aesthetically pleasing, to say the least. He is very effective however, as only Anthony Johnson, Rousimar Palhares and Gerald Harris have been able to come out with a victory against him. Featherweight champion Georgi Karakhanyan brings his nine-fight winning streak into the cage as he takes on Rick Glenn — who sports a 12-fight unbeaten streak and seven-fight winning streak of his own. Neither of these fighters is a particularly great round-winner, so this could end up a very back-and-forth affair which should be of great delight to viewers. Jessica Aguilar had a very favorable matchup to win her strawweight title, and she seems to have a very favorable one to retain it as well. Emi Fujino has been a solid fighter on the female circuit for a long time, but she has never beaten a top opponent aside from a win over Mei Yamaguchi very early on in her career. Fujino is a grappler, but she will struggle to accomplish much against a better wrestler and superior overall grappler in Aguilar. The main card, including these three bouts as well as Luiz ‘Buscape’ Firmino taking on Tyson Griffin and Lance Palmer looking to bounce back from his first career loss against Nick LoBosco, all air on NBC Sports Network on Saturday night. The proceedings will start at 9pm ET. Today, MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for WSOF 10 at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– MAIN CARD (NBC Sports Network, 9pm ET) WSOF Middleweight Title Jesse Taylor -140 David Branch +100 WSOF Featherweight Title Georgi Karakhanyan -315 Rick Glenn +235 WSOF Women’s Strawweight Title Jessica Aguilar -600 Emi Fujino +400 Luiz Firmino -140 Tyson Griffin +100 Lance Palmer -600 Nick LoBosco +400 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: Jesse Taylor has more tools than David Branch, a better submission game, better finishing power with his strikes, but it may not matter. Branch is uncanny in his ability to stifle opponents, even those who are solid wrestlers in their own right. I don’t think he’s quite good enough to nullify Taylor, but I’d be lying if I said I was 100% confident in ‘JT Money’ but if the price gets under -150, I’ll bet tempted. The fact that Rick Glenn was down two rounds to none against Alexandre Pimentel and needed a huge comeback in the third round to pick up the win has to be very worrying for his backers against another superior grappler in Karakhanyan. Personally, the line is a bit too high to play Georgi at this point, but I favor him to come through here. Glenn doesn’t have the dynamism of Patricio ‘Pitbull’ or wrestling of Joe Warren, which have been the only real tools to trouble a lesser version of Karakhanyan, but his cardio and toughness will make this competitive and have him hang around longer than many expect. I really don’t get what WSOF is trying to accomplish with its female division. Jessica Aguilar is a solid fighter, but she has nobody to fight. This bout is the perfect example. Emi Fujino is a perfectly solid fighter, but she’s strictly a grappler, and an inferior one to Aguilar in both wrestling and submissions. Nobody has ever finished Fujino, so perhaps the over will offer a bit more value than the straight line on Aguilar in this spot. While Tyson Griffin has undergone a massive decline in his career, Luiz Firmino has actually looked quite solid of late picking up wins over Jacob Volkmann, Luis Palomino and Toby Imada in his last three outings. Griffin has been stopped by strikes in two of his past three bouts, and looked completely uninspired against JZ Cavalcante in his last appearance. I think Firmino will be the better overall grappler, and the striking should end up relatively even as he outworks Griffin to a decision victory. Despite losing to Georgi Karakhanyan in his bid to become WSOF featherweight champion, Lance Palmer is still an excellent prospect, and showed some good development in that bout. Both his striking and grappling continue to improve, and he has that excellent wrestling base in his back pocket. Against LoBosco, who is dangerous on the feet, I expect Palmer to take things to the ground where he should be superior physically and technically. He’s seen some outrageous lines in the past, but after the loss, this one shouldn’t get too out of hand. Potential parlay fodder here.
