RFA vs. Legacy FC: 5 More Cross-Promotional Events We'd Like to See
This weekend, AXS TV hosts a cross-promotional showdown, as Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Championship fight for pride. It's a concept that should be an attraction to viewers who want to determine the best regional promotion.
With that, there are possibilities of doing this again in the future, especially if the card is successful. Plenty of MMA promotions could compete with one another, so pondering some future matchups is intriguing.
The rules are there will be no UFC cross-promotion, as that would never happen. Also, at least two champion vs. champion fights would need to headline the cards, so we will do the best to build those cards around that.
With that, let's look at five potential matchups between promotions that would tickle our fancy.
Bellator vs. World Series of Fighting
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Proposed Card
| Weight Class | Bellator | WSOF |
| Welterweight | Douglas Lima (c) | Rousimar Palhares (c) |
| Lightweight | Will Brooks (c) | Justin Gaethje (c) |
| Featherweight | Patricio Freire (c) | Lance Palmer (c) |
| Bantamweight | Marcos Galvao (c) | Marlon Moraes (c) |
| Light Heavyweight | Muhammed Lawal | Thiago Silva |
| Heavyweight | Cheick Kongo | Steve Mocco |
| Middleweight | Alexander Shlemenko | Jake Shields |
| Lightweight | Melvin Guillard | Nick Newell |
| Welterweight | Paul Daley | Jon Fitch |
This is the most obvious of the cross-promotional events fans would want to see, but it's probably the most difficult. Why? Because WSOF is shown on NBC Sports, while Bellator is broadcast on the Viacom-run Spike TV, so television rights would be a large obstacle.
Either way, it's the most intriguing. These two companies are the next two in line behind the UFC in terms of talent and the overall big stage.
This nine-fight card would likely take place on pay-per-view and feature four title bouts as the main attractions. The only matchups not included for the champions would be heavyweight, light heavyweight and middleweight for reasons stemming from lack of a current champion (light heavyweight for WSOF) to simply being bumped for better matchups (middleweight).
The four title fights would more than warrant at least a $50 pay-per-view charge, and the matchups chosen would be competitive. The ones with most intrigue are the welterweight and lightweight bouts, with the rest of the card filling out with some of the bigger stars of both companies.
Unfortunately, some of the biggest stars would be left off this event. For Bellator, guys like Tito Ortiz, Michael Page, Vitaly Minakov, Joe Warren and Brandon Halsey would be left out. On WSOF's side, Yushin Okami, Smealinho Rama, David Branch and others would be missing.
Here's to wishful thinking, as the card assembled would be totally worth plunking down money to see.
One Championship vs. M-1 Global
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Proposed Card
| Weight Class | One Championship | M-1 Global |
| Middleweight | Igor Svirid (c) | Ramazan Emeev (c) |
| Lightweight | Shinya Aoki (c) | Mansour Barnaoui (c) |
| Featherweight | Jadamba Narantungalag (c) | Ivan Buchinger (c) |
| Heavyweight* | Marcin Tybura (c) | Stephan Puetz |
| Welterweight* | Ben Askren (c) | Luis Santos |
One Championship has been the premier Asian MMA organization for a while. In fact, it has picked up some M-1 talents along the way such as Marat Gafurov, among others.
That means a solid rivalry could be brewing that could turn into pay-per-view dollars.
This would be a great five-fight card featuring championship bouts in every affair. The top three are One vs. M-1 champions bouts, which would be fun to watch given the talent.
The two opening bouts would actually be organizational championship bouts, like RFA vs. Legacy has in their lightweight title bout between Mike Bronzoulis and David Burrow.
First, a rematch between M-1 heavyweight champion Marcin Tybura and light heavyweight king Stephan Puetz from this past weekend would be a solid fight to run back. Puetz won via doctor stoppage from a cut, so a definitive ending would be imperative here.
Then, a rematch from the controversial Ben Askren-Luis Santos fight could open the pay-per-view. A no-contest was had after an eye poke on Santos, which ended a weird bout.
With two titles on the line (M-1 Heavyweight Championship and One Welterweight Championship), in unison with the cross-promotional battle, this would be a must-see classic.
KSW vs. BAMMA
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Proposed Card
| Weight Class | KSW | BAMMA |
| Heavyweight* | Karol Bedorf (c) | Marcin Lazarz |
| Welterweight | Borys Mankowski (c) | Eddy Ellis (c) |
| Lightweight* | Maciej Jewtuszko (c) | Tom Duquesnoy |
| Middleweight | Mamed Khalidov | Cheick Kone |
| Heavyweight | Mariusz Pudzianowski | Mark Godbeer |
KSW, a promotion based in Poland, is set to invade the U.K. this year, so a matchup versus BAMMA makes some sense.
That tough part about it is a lot of their champions don't match up weight class to weight class, so a couple of "superfights" would need to be made. This is the case for the main event in the heavyweight division and the third bout in the lightweight division.
BAMMA has no heavyweight champion, and KSW has no light heavyweight champion. So, seeing as Marcin Lazarz has competed at heavyweight in the past, he could move up as the BAMMA light heavyweight champion to take on Karol Bedorf.
Also, KSW lacks a featherweight champion that BAMMA has but possesses a lightweight champion that BAMMA currently lacks. So, Maciej Jewtuszko vs. Tom Duquesnoy could work out well.
Add in a welterweight champion vs. welterweight champion bout in the co-main event, as well as middleweight Mamed Khalidov and heavyweight Mariusz Pudzianowski as your non-title draws, and you have a steady card.
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CFFC vs. Ring of Combat
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Proposed Card:
| Weight Class | CFFC | ROC |
| Heavyweight | Plinio Cruz (c) | Brendan Barrett (c) |
| Middleweight | Anthony Smith (c) | Oluwale Bamgbose (c) |
| Welterweight | Lyman Good (c) | Randy Brown (c) |
| Lightweight | Darrell Horcher (c) | Jeff Lentz (c) |
| Flyweight | Sidemar Honorio (c) | Matt Rizzo (c) |
This card would have been stronger had the UFC not picked up some of the talents that both companies had and if the bantamweight champions (Jimmie Rivera and Julio Arce) were not teammates.
However, this is still a strong card that would feature all champion vs. champion bouts.
Some of the more notable names come in the form of former Bellator champion Lyman Good, The Ultimate Fighter competitor Jeff Lentz and UFC/Strikeforce veteran Anthony Smith. They would be the keynote names that would draw eyes, while lesser-known fighters such as Darrell Horcher, Sidemar Honorio and Brendan Barrett would look to boost their stock with added exposure.
This would not have the value of a Bellator/WSOF or One/M-1 card, but for a reasonable pay-per-view price, this would be a fun card to watch. Both companies have a rich tradition of sending fighters to the UFC and could prove their worth in a competitive MMA market.
RFA vs. Titan FC
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| Weight Class | Titan FC | RFA |
| Light Heavyweight* | Vinny Magalhaes (c) | Francisco France |
| Lightweight | Pat Healy (c) | Mehdi Baghdad (c) |
| Bantamweight | Brett Johns (c) | Luke Sanders (c) |
| Welterweight | Benjamin Smith (c) | Chidi Njokuani |
| Featherweight | Kurt Holobaugh (c) | Desmond Green |
Like the other cross-promotional events, this one would warrant out-of-division matchups and promotional title fights. However, the connection in that Scott Cutbirth used to be the matchmaker for RFA and now fills that role for Titan FC is an interesting storyline.
The main feature would have Titan FC light heavyweight champion Vinny Magalhaes take on RFA middleweight champion Francisco France at 205. France would have to move up, but it would keep with the promotion vs. promotion feel.
Then, outside the two champion vs. champion bouts between Pat Healy vs. Mehdi Baghdad and Brett Johns vs. Luke Sanders, there would be actual title defenses.
The RFA Welterweight Championship would be on the line when Benjamin Smith defends his belt against top contender Chidi Njokuani. Also, the Titan FC Featherweight Championship would be up for grabs in a rematch, as Desmond Green looks to take his belt back against Kurt Holobaugh.
This would be a AXS TV-worthy card that could get some good viewership. That, of course, could be reflected on what we see in RFA vs. Legacy FC this weekend.
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