Before the bell: November edition

A feast of fights to keep your eye on

Eddie Ursua, Staff Reporter|November 11, 2022

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Fabricio Andrade (right) lands a huge knee on John Lineker (left) during the One on Prime Video 3 main event on Oct. 21 (via ONE Championship)

November brings fight fans another month stuffed full of title fights and contender rankings on the line. Rivals will clash and with title belts on the line, it will answer crucial questions for multiple divisions going forward. Who is the true best middleweight in the world? Who will be the No. 1 contender for the welterweight division?

But first, let’s take a quick look at the results of the bouts featured in last month’s recap. October captivated fight fans all month with tons of excitement and frustration for fighters and fans alike.

October results (Main event/co-main)

  • One on Prime Video 3: In a back and forth fight, John Lineker and Fabrico Andrade landed an unintentional low blow on Lineker that stopped a powerful surge from Andrade and resulted in a no contest. Regian Eersel became double champ after defeating Sinsamut Klinmee by Split Decision to win the Lightweight Muay Thai World Championship.
  • UFC 280: Islam Makhachev put on an impressive performace submitting Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira in the second round to claim the vacant Lightweight Championship. A dominant but questionable performance from Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling over an injured T.J. Dillashaw had many fans wondering should Dillashaw have dropped the fight? “Sugar” Sean O’Malley emerged victorious after a controversial split decision victory against Petr Yan, making O’Malley number one contender in the Bantamweight division.

  • Bellator 287: Mansour Barnaoui put on a smothering grappling performance in his Bellator debut and submitted Adam Piccolotti in the second round in an electric main event in Milan. Fabian Edwards wins in smooth fashion via unanimous decision against Charlie Ward. Edwards calls for a title shot after the big win.
  • Kattar vs Allen: More frustration for fight fans ensued as Calvin Kattar hurt his knee during the opening of the second round. The fight was stopped and declared a TKO victory for Arnold Allen as Kattar was unable to continue. Max Griffin celebrated a split decision victory over Tim Means in one of the biggest fights of his career.

November events and news

UFC 281: Adesanya Vs. Pereira

The future of the UFC’s middleweight division will be decided on Saturday, Nov. 12 as Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya and Alex Periera meet in the main event for the third fight in their combat sports trilogy.

Trilogy fights are not that rare in the combat sports world. In boxing, it’s often the norm when it comes to great rivalries. MMA has seen its fair share of trilogies. Pereira is 2-0 against Adesanya, but not in the octagon.

Taking place in the mecca of combat sports, Madison Square Garden, fans are buzzing whether Periera will emerge triumphant yet again after two wins in kickboxing or if Middleweight Champion Adesanya will remain dominant over the division.

Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza is set to defend her title against Zhang Weili in this featured co-main event at 115 pounds. Esparza is looking to bounce back after a lackluster decision victory to attain the championship back in May, while Weili dispatched her last foe in June with a vicious spinning backfist knockout to earn the title shot.

The bad blood finally boils over when Dustin Poirier squares off against Michael Chandler in a three round fight that fans have been waiting for. After the heated back and forth from both combatants this fight is looking to be a technical war on the mainstage.

Don’t miss the UFC take over Madison Square Garden at 7 p.m on ESPN+ PPV.

Bellator 288: Nemkov Vs Anderson 2

Light Heavyweights collide on Friday, Nov. 18 as Vadim Nemkov faces Corey Anderson in the conclusion to the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament. Winner takes all as whoever ends up victorious walks away with one million in tournament winnings and the Light Heavyweight Championship Belt. This Grand Prix final fight is a rematch from April when the fight was declared a no contest after an accidental clash of heads forced the doctor stoppage.

Patricky “Pitbull” Friere is scheduled to defend his Lightweight World Championship in the co-main event against the undefeated Usman Nurmagomedov. Pitbull looks to further cement his family’s legacy in Bellator and Nurmagomedov looks to continue the surge of talent coming out of Dagestan.

Bellator travels to the Wintrust Arena in Chicago for this event airing live at 6 p.m. on Showtime.

One on Prime Video 4: Abbasov vs Lee

Going head to head with the previous event on Nov. 18 is One on Prime 4 which hosts a duo of title fights during the main event at 7 p.m.

Welterweight Champion Kiamrian Abbasov will attempt to defend his title against Lightweight Champion Christian Lee in the main event. Lee moves up in weight and hopes to attain the status of double champ against Abbasov who returns back to defend the division’s title after an unsuccessful attempt at becoming double champ himself at Light Heavyweight.

One on Prime Video 4 looks to follow in the success of previous events with this talented lineup (via @ONEChampionship/Twitter)

The co-main event hosts Flyweight Muay Thai Champion Rodtang Jitmaungnon who looks to put on another electric performance as he defends against Strawweight Muay Thai Champion Joseph Lasiri who also hopes to gain a second belt. This fight will be Rodtang’s attempt at a fourth title defense and should be full of action since both athletes are known for putting on top tier performances.

Just like all One on Prime offerings, this event live from Singapore Arena is available on Prime Video at no extra charge for regular subscribers.

2022 PFL World Championship

The Professional Fighter’s League will host its biggest night of the year on Friday, Nov. 25 as six different world titles are on the line during the promotions annual championship event.

Olympian and PFL mainstay Kayla Harrison looks to prove she is one of the most dominant women athletes in combat sports when she defends the Women’s Lightweight Championship against the hard hitting Brazilian Larissa Pacheco. Harrison has remained undefeated as a professional and looked dominant doing so, but Pacheco has been on a warpath devastating opponents on her way to the championship.

The rest of the event has five additional title fights and $1 million dollars in prize money for each division’s champion. The event is packed with talent as PFL standout athletes and ex-UFC fighters including Aspen Ladd, Marlon Moraes and Jeremy Stephens join in on the excitement.

This will be a decisive night for the self-proclaimed No. 2 MMA promotion as they host their first PPV event at Hulu Theatre inside the Madison Square Garden. This championship main card airs live at 5 p.m. on ESPN+ PPV.

Bellator/Rizin New Years event announced

In late October, Bellator and Japanese based promotion Rizin announced a collaboration event taking place on New Years Eve at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo.

This star studded New Years event will see both of each promotion’s best athletes getting to face off to prove who is the best regardless of the banners they fight under. A main event between former Bellator Champion A.J. McKee and Rizin Lightweight Champion Roberto de Souza has already been announced for this historical event going down on Showtime Sports.

When will Jon Jones finally make his heavyweight debut?

The rumors in the MMA world since the end of summer has been that Jon Jones is finally ready to make a debut at Heavyweight in the UFC. Many speculated the former Light Heavyweight champion would make his return after nearly three years in December at UFC 282 but with the recent announcement of the December cards lineup that is impossible at this point.

Will Jon Jones stay patient and wait for the UFC to renegotiate with Francis Ngannou for his chance at an undisputed title shot? Only time will tell what actually happens but all signs are pointing to the idea that the MMA star is finally ready for his time in the spotlight again.

Frankie Edgar announces final retirement fight

If you needed yet another reason to watch UFC 281 on Saturday, the legendary Frankie Edgar will make his 30th and final UFC appearance as he announced his final fight before retirement. The hometown hero will get to hang up the gloves in front of the packed crowd at MSG after he faces Chris Gutierrez on the main card of UFC 281.

Edgar made his UFC debut in February of 2007 and has given fans numerous unforgettable performances over nearly 16 years fighting against the toughest the division has to offer.

WBC orders two fights to determine two next contenders for two belts

The World Boxing Committee has ordered two fights to take place: David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant to determine who will challenge WBC Super-Middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, and Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. to determine the next mandatory challenger for ‘The Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury’s WBC Heavyweight championship.

Remember that the world of MMA can be unpredictable, so all fight cards are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.

Things only seem to be getting better for fight fans as the year is coming closer to an end. Don’t miss out on this feast of featured combat sports events this month. And don’t forget to protect yourself at all times!