10 May Tussles Worth Watching

For the first time in “Tussles” history, nearly as much star power exists outside the four major promotions as inside them.

The May menu features the top grappler on the planet, Braulio Estima, making his mixed martial arts debut and loads of top-notch title fights in the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts and Ultimate Challenge MMA shows in England. Plus, the sport’s fifth-ranked lightweight, Eddie Alvarez, takes on UFC veteran Josh Neer under the Bellator Fighting Championships banner. None of those fights made this month’s cut, however.

As always, the list focuses not on the well-promoted main event bouts fans already know to watch but on fights from all over the planet that are worth seeing. The UFC, Strikeforce, Dream and Sengoku Raiden Championships are excluded by design.

10. Koichiro Matsumoto vs. Yoshihiro Tomioka
Club Deep Toyama, May 16 -- Toyama, Japan

The 24-year-old Matsumoto has emerged as one of the most promising young Japanese fighters rising through the ranks of the Deep circuit. The third-year veteran started his career at welterweight and has moved all the way down featherweight. In his second bout at 145 pounds, he will meet Tomioka, a Deep mainstay better known as “Barbaro44.” The dangerous knockout artist has had memorable wars with Kazunori Yokota, Michihiro Omigawa and Katsunori Kikuno throughout the years and seems certain to put Matsumoto to the test.

9. Maciej Jewtuszko vs. Erikas Petraitis
Iron Fist II, May 14 -- Szczecin, Poland

The main MMA attraction at Iron Fist II -- a boxing, muay Thai and MMA mixed-fight gala -- will be the clash between Jewtuszko, an undefeated Polish muay Thai champion, and Petraitis, a Lithuanian Shooto and Hero’s veteran. “Irokez” has prepared diligently with his coaches, Piotr Baginski and Robert Siedziako, for the challenges a submission specialist like Petraitis presents. The Lithuanian -- who holds wins over Hideo Tokoro and current Sengoku featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara -- has another fight on the horizon. On May 29, he will meet Finnish ace Jarkko Latomaki in Prague, Czech Republic.

8. Hamid Corassani vs. Danny Batten
Superior Challenge 5 “Pride and Fury,” May 1 -- Stockholm, Sweden

Originally scheduled for The Zone Fighting Championship “Evolution” on March 27, the clash between Batten, the former European featherweight king, and Swedish superstar Corassani had to be postponed due to illness of the latter. Batten, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, holds wins over Emmanuel Fernandez, Augusto Frota and the world-ranked Damacio Page but has not fought in 18 months. Corassani, having enjoyed considerable success fighting at lightweight and welterweight, now has his sights set on attacking the featherweight division in his quest of making it to World Extreme Cagefighting.

7. Edilberto de Oliveira vs. Gil de Freitas
Jungle Fight 20, May 22 -- Sao Paulo, Brazil

“Brazilian Dana” Wallid Ismail, the only South American promoter who has consistently put on solid events for the past seven years, has also produced several star fighters, including UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Strikeforce contenders Fabricio Werdum and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. He has planned six eight-man tournaments for 2010 in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. One welterweight quarter-final has already leaked out, as UFC veteran de Oliveria will put his five-fight win streak on the line against de Freitas, a dangerous Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who has spent the majority of his career fighting at middleweight.

6. Pascal Krauss vs. John Quinn
Cage Warriors 37 “Right to Fight,” May 22 -- Birmingham, England

Dan Hardy was 23 years old when he won the Cage Warriors welterweight championship. He relinquished the title upon signing with the UFC, and his old belt will be up for grabs when Britain’s longest-running MMA promotion returns from a 16-month hiatus. A pair of undefeated European prospects, neither of which has gone the distance, will duke it out for the vacant championship. Quinn, in fact, has yet to have a fight reach the second round.

5. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Wilson Reis
Bellator Fighting Championships 18, May 13 -- Monroe, La.

Speaking of undefeated prospects, Freire punched his ticket to the Bellator featherweight tournament semi-finals with an easy first-round submission over previously undefeated Canadian muay Thai specialist William Romero. His task ahead will prove significantly more difficult, as he will take on Reis, a fellow Brazilian who reached the 2009 semi-finals before being eliminated by eventual tournament winner Joe Soto.

4. Thales Leites vs. Jesse Taylor
MFC 25 “Vindication,” May 7 -- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Two fighters who were cast aside by the UFC appear to have found a new home north of the border. Leites, the former UFC middleweight title challenger, bounced back from back-to-back losses to Anderson Silva and Alessio Sakara with a unanimous decision over former Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships absolute division winner Dean Lister. Meanwhile, Taylor, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 finalist, scored a first-round submission over fellow UFC veteran Jason Day in February. Now, they meet each other in the MFC 25 main event, and the winner figures to move on to bigger and better things.

3. Tim Sylvia vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski
Moosin MMA “Sylvia vs. Pudzianowski,” May 21 -- Worcester, Mass.

Two weeks after he faces Japanese light heavyweight Yusuke Kawaguchi in his home promotion, KSW, Polish strongman Pudzianowski will get a golden opportunity to prove himself more than a sideshow when he faces the former UFC heavyweight champion. The 6-foot-8 Sylvia has lost three of his last four fights, an embarrassing knockout loss to former Olympic boxer Ray Mercer included.

2. Ricardo Mayorga vs. Din Thomas
Shine Fights 3 “Worlds Collide,” May 15 -- Fayetteville, N.C.

There was no love lost between Mayorga, the former WBC and WBA welterweight boxing champion, and Thomas, the American Top Team-based UFC veteran, at their pre-fight press conference. Thomas has some limited boxing experience, but this fight will be contested under MMA rules and will serve as Mayorga’s debut. Should Thomas, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, get the fight to the ground, it figures to end quickly. Mayorga, who has 22 knockouts as a boxer, will have the proverbial puncher’s chance.

1. Takeshi Inoue vs. Hatsu Hioki
Shooto “The Way of Shooto 3,” May 30 – Tokyo

This month’s slice of filet mignon comes in the form of the Shooto lightweight title fight between Inoue, the defending champion, and Hioki, his world-ranked challenger. The question as to which of these two men was superior has remained unanswered for far too long. Both have performed brilliantly of late, increasing the hype behind this long-awaited matchup. Too bad it will be contested over three rounds.