Going global: a rundown of shows this weekend in surprising locations

Ricco Rodriguez.jpg

(Ricco Rodriguez)

With most of the press located in the US and most of the televised shows takingplace here the shows in other countries tend to get overlooked.  Bellator return to Canada of course but whatof the rest of the world this weekend?  ZSTin Japan and Nitrix in Brazil are somewhat established shows, the surprisescome with the relatively new shows in surprising locations.

Making its debut Dubai Fighting Championship from the Harbor Grand Beach Resortin Dubai is a bit of an unknown.  Themain event features former ADCC Worlds +99kg champion and UFC vet RiccoRodriguez taking on UWC vet Stav Enonomou from Cyprus.  Rodriguez since his in over Doug Williams inShark Fights (see archives) has been on a slump going 1-6 with his most recentbeing a unanimous decision loss to Ruslan Magonmedov.  Enonomou has been much less active going 1-1in that same stretch of time most recently defeating Tomasz Czerwinski bykeylock in February.  Both areexperienced, it seems a matter of if Rodriguez can fight like he did before hisBellator debut or if the much younger (25 years old to Rodriguez’s 34) Enonomoucan take out a “name”.

Renato SobralNo confirmation is available on if Instinct MMA 4 has been postponed or not,odd considering the event is supposed to take place May 5th.  The main event is/was supposed to be RenatoSobral vs. Steve Bosse while Martin Grandmont vs. Phil Baronico-headlines/d.  Rumors abound the eventis postponed until June.

From a scouting perspective Glory 2 in Queensland, Australia looks interestingbut the card is filled with relative unknowns such as Hae Joon Yang vs. VaughanAnderson in the main event.  This eventis rumored to be filmed and clips posted on YouTube but no confirmation isavailable.

Bobby LashleyArguably the biggest surprise is Super Fight League 3 in New Delhi May 6th, notjust because it is in India but because it is headlined by Bobby Lashley vs.James Thompson!  In the US Lashley wascaught up in some contract issues when he fought in Strikeforce, TFC, and SharkFights but his Strikeforce loss in August 2010 is still his only blemish on his7-1 career.  Thompson since hishigh-profile (and questionable) fight against Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson inEliteXC had a rocky record of 1-5 through 2010 but since then has turned hiscareer around with two wins (and one “no contest”) most recently defeating BobSapp in March.  Also on the card areTrevor Prangley, Doug Marshall, and Kultar Gill in separate fights.