The start of summer can be recognized by rising temperatures, skimpy clothes and blockbuster movies. The month of June kicks the summer off for mixed martial arts with five events spread out over only just four short weeks.
Mark your calendars as every Saturday in June will feature a major televised MMA fight card, three being televised on free TV.
The month starts out with the Ultimate Fighter season 13 finale on the 4th on spike TV with a new season winner being crowned. The coaches (Lesnar pulled out of the fight, replaced by Shane Carwin) will then fight the following Saturday at UFC 131 on PPV. Strikeforce and the Heavyweight tournament return on the 18th with Strikeforce: Overeen vs. Werdum on Showtime and HDNet. They will then head south for Strikeforce: challengers series on Friday the 24th, also airing on Showtime. The month of MMA is concluded with yet another free card in UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Johnson on the 25th.
With over 50 fights overall amongst these cards, surprisingly there are no championship fights among them. However there are two tournament bouts and three fights with championship ramifications as the winner would be next in line for a title shot.
Despite the lack of a title fight the month of June offers stacked cards with excellent matchups sure to process several memorable bouts.
The Top 5 fights in June:
1. Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum (Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum)
The top two Strikeforce heavyweights will face off in a non-title fight with the winner moving on in the tournament to face Antonio Silva in the semifinals. These two have faced one another before, as Werdum submitted Overeem back in their PRIDE days.
UFC 131
2. Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin (UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin)
Originally suppose to be Brock Lesnar taking on Dos Santos but a reoccurrence of diverticulitis force Lesnar to withdraw and have surgery. In stepped in fan favorite Shane Carwin after neither a year out of action. The winner will get the next shot a Cain Velasquez and the UFC heavyweight title.
3. Clay Guida vs. Anthony Pettis (Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale)
The last WEC lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis hasn’t gotten that unification title shot he was supposed to get when the WEC merged with the UFC due to the circumstances out of his control. Not wanting to wait Pettis will take on the energizer fighter that is Clay Guida in what could be the fight of the month.
4. Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers (Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum)
The “other” Strikeforce tournament bout features the return of Josh Barnett who was last schedule to face Fedor at Affliction: Trilogy. The winner of the bout will move onto the semifinals and face the Russian Sergei Kharitonov.
5. K.J. Noons vs. Jorge Masvidal (Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum)
Headlining the undercard portion that will be televised on HDNet prior to the main card airing on Showtime, this lightweight contest will determine was next for the current Strikeforce lightweight champ, Gilbert Melendez.
Honorable mention: Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes & Demain Maia vs. Mark Munoz (UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin), Nate Marquardt vs. Anthony Johnson, Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry & Martin Kampmann vs. John Howard (UFC Live: Mardquardt vs. Johnson)
