When Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day sang the lyrics "Summer has come and passed. The innocent can never last. Wake me up when September ends", he clearly wasn't referring to this September in the world of combat sports. Now that we are a week into the month and finally recovering from our Labor Day BBQ hangovers, we have a solid three weeks to enjoy some action packed MMA, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jiu-Jitsu, and Submission Grappling in all of its unadulterated glory. Here is a list of must-see events in every sport, so protagonists of each pugilistic and grappling oriented discipline will be completely satisfied.
--Mixed Martial Arts--
UFC Fight Night 19:
The UFC is setting their sails for America's southwest and in a big way. On Wednesday, September 16, 2009, the UFC will make its long-awaited return to Oklahoma. The last time the UFC hosted an event in the Sooner State was nearly 15 years ago at UFC 4. UFC Fight Night 19 is scheduled to have 11 bouts with a main event between TUF 5 champion Nate Diaz and TUF 2 standout Melvin Guillard. The co-featured bout on the main card will be a bout between undefeated lightweight contender Gray Maynard and former division poster boy Roger Huerta. The event will air live on Spike as a lead-in to the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 10 - Heavyweights, which will be televised directly after the fights.
UFC 103 - Franklin vs. Belfort:
The UFC will then round up their troops and travel 3 hours south to Dallas, Texas for UFC 103 - Franklin vs. Belfort, which takes place three nights later on Saturday, September 19, 2009. This will mark the UFC's second show in the state of Texas. However, unlike the nearly 15 year wait Oklahoma went through, this will be the second show in Texas since UFC 69, roughly two and a half years ago. The main event of the evening will be a 195-pound catchweight bout between former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former UFC light-heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort. The co-featured bout will be a heavyweight clash between two of the most dangerous strikers in the world, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Junior "Cigano" dos Santos. The event is scheduled to broadcast live on PPV on the same night and at the same time as the Mayweather vs. Marquez boxing PPV.
Strikeforce - ShoMMA 3:
On Friday, September 25, 2009, Strikeforce will air the third installment of of ShoMMA - Strikeforce Challengers. Just like UFC Fight Night 19, nine days earlier, the event will take place in the state of Oklahoma at the SpiritBank Event Center in Bixby, Oklahoma, which is a suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The main event of the evening will be a middleweight bout between undefeated Zak Cummings (10-0) and decorated U.S. Army Green Beret Tim Kennedy (10-2). The co-featured bout will be a heavyweight showdown between K-1 legend Ray Sefo and UFC veteran Kevin Jordan. NCAA All-American and two-time Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier is also scheduled to make his MMA debut on this card against an opponent who will be announced in the next day or so. The event will be broadcasted on Showtime.
--Boxing--
"Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather Jr. was univerally considered the pound-for-pound king of boxing, when he abruptly retired from the sport in his prime, after his KO win over Ricky Hatton in December 2007. In the meantime, he has stayed in the spotlight due to a stint on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars", personal legal woes, as well as being the proverbial thorn in UFC president Dana White's side during the renewed Boxing vs. MMA debate. Mayweather is now returning to the sport after a 16-month retirement, attempting to regain his mythical "pound-for-pound" crown from Manny Pacquiao, the man who seized it in his absence.
Coincidentally, Pretty Boy Floyd timed the announcement of his comeback just one day before Pacquiao's highlight reel KO of Hatton, the same man he needed 8 extra rounds to KO in his last bout. In any case, Mayweather Jr. is back in action and will be facing Juan Manuel Márquez at a catchweight of 144 lbs. on Saturday, September 19, 2009 in conjunction with Mexican Independence Day, traditionally a big boxing weekend. The event will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be aired on HBO PPV.
--Kickboxing--
On Saturday, September 26, 2009 one of the premier kickboxing events of the year will take place with K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Seoul. This event is kickboxing's version of the "Sweet Sixteen" and will take place at the historic Seoul Olympic Park in the capital city of Seoul, South Korea.
The final 16 participants of the tournament will be narrowed down to 8 by night's end and the winners will advance to the next round, which will take place in Kanagawa, Japan on October 26, 2009. The fight card has 13 bouts scheduled, but the main card aired on HDNet will feature some of the biggest names in the sport in some marquee match-ups. The 8 tournament bouts have been listed below.
-Peter Aerts (Holland) vs. Alistair Overeem (Holland)
-Semmy Schilt (Holland) vs. Daniel Ghita (Romania)
-Jerome Le Banner (France) vs. Musashi (Japan)
-Badr Hari (Morocco) vs. Zabit Samedov (Belarus)
-Ewerton Teixeira (Brazil) vs. Singh Jaideep (India)
-Errol Zimmerman (Curacao) vs. Glaube Feitosa (Brazil)
-Ruslan Karaev (Russia) vs. Kyotaro (Japan)
-Remy Bonjasky (Holland) vs. Melvin Manhoef (Holland)
--Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling--
On Saturday, Septmebr 26, 2009, there will be three large Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling tournaments hosted in different parts of the globe. The first OTM Nationals of Jiu-Jitsu in San Jose, California, the NAGA Olympia World Grappling Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
The OTM Nationals of Jiu-Jitsu:
OTM co-founder Alan "Gumby" Marques helped turn an idea into a reality. Gumby has been working diligently with USA Judo and will be throwing a Jiu-Jitsu tournament on September 25-26, 2009 in San Jose, California in conjunction with the U.S. Open of Judo, which is one of the largest Judo tournaments in the country. He's excited about this for two main reasons. The first
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