The Debut of The World Series of Fighting
While some voiced their distaste with some of the lopsided matchups on the main card of WSOF (World Series of Fighting), one cannot fault the quality of talent that was showcased for free of charge.
Andrei Arlovski, Anthony Johnson, Tyrone Spong, and Miguel Torres legitimate star power. Meanwhile, names like Ronys Torres, J.C. Cavalcante, Josh Burkman, and Gerald Harris easily could have filled a UFC undercard. WSOF definitely did their job recruiting talent and spending the money to sign them.
The production was decent. Ray Sefo is one of the most liked individuals in all of combat sports. His ability to sell fights may not be up to the level of Dana White or Bjorn Rebney, but he seems as if he is pouring all of his efforts into making this thing work.
The fight card delivered knockouts and helped them develop future talent. Marlon Moraes and Tyrone Spong could be building blocks of something bigger for their promotion. Sefo made it known that he would not block any of his fighters signing with the UFC, so it remains to be seen how long he will be able to afford keeping all of this talent under one umbrella.
Overall, it was a great night of fights. Anthony Johnson’s knockout over a very tough D.J. Linderman was stunning. Andrei Arlovski has put together a decent winning streak and looks to be recapturing his knockout ways. Miguel Torres may have showed why the UFC was willing to cut loose the former WEC champion. He has simply lost the aggressiveness that made him so fun to watch. It was also good to see J.Z. Cavalcante get back on the winning side of things. He still has immense talent, but needs to make that cut down to featherweight and stay injury free. Finally, Tyrone Spong made his long awaited MMA debut. His opponent, Travis Bartlett, did not look like much, but he was 7-2 overall coming into the fight with his only two losses coming to UFC veteran Tom Lawlor and LHW prospect Robert Scott. Spong easily overwhelmed Bartlett with his striking, but it remains to be seen how Spong will fair against a decent wrestler.
