MMA You Want To Watch This Week 10/25 - 10/31

First of all, before we get started, everyone PLEASE vote in the poll posted here if you haven't already.  You'll be helping me with what I include in this article every week.  Super thank you's to everyone who already voted!

Alrighty, then.  It's Monday.  I'm still exhausted from the weekend (WAR VELASQUEZ!) and I'm also hoping to get this finished before the raging thunderstorms outside knock the power out again this morning.  Lots of fun, typing like a madwoman while half-caffeinated.  I hope you all are fluent in typo, cause here we go...

Pending the results after the poll closes, and so I can race the inevitable power outage I'm facing,  I'm not going to include the online PPV shows this week.   If any of you know of an event being shown online, free or PPV, give me a yell at satarma@gmail.com, or on Twitter @satarma42 and send me the link.  Or just shoot me a message to say hi.  Whichever. :)

 (Note: All times are Eastern)

M-1 Challenge XXI

St. Petersburg, Russia

Thursday, October 28, 11:30 am, FREE STREAM 

It's free.  If you need any other reason to watch this event,  then watch this.  Yes, my man Magomed Shikshabekov is fighting, and you can see it live and FREE.  Thursday is going to be a great day for fights!!

Bellator 34

Hollywood, FL

Thursday, October 28, 8pm, FSN

If you had the means to watch Bellator 33 last week, and still missed it, go right now and hit your head against a brick wall several times.  That's what you get for missing out on a fantastic fight between Eddie Alvarez and Roger Huerta.  You should be thoroughly ashamed.  If your local FSN affiliate is showing Bellator live this week, and you miss it, do the same thing.  This week's fights have the potential to be the best we've seen out of the promotion so far this season.  First of all, the middlewight belt is on the line.  Hector Lombard vs. Alexander Shlemenko will determine if we see a new MW champ, following the pattern of the featherweight and welterweight title fights earlier in the season.  Lombard is the current belt holder, and we've seen him fight twice this season (and both times he completely crushed his opponent) in non-title feature fights.  Shlemenko earned his title shot by winning the quarter and semi final fights in the middleweight tournament and doing it with a flashy style that made him insanely fun to watch.  This fight should be a) short, and b) insane.  Will Shlemenko follow in the footsteps of Joe Warren and Ben Askren, and unseat the current champ?  Or will Lombard put his opponent to sleep early in the first round again?  Just a note: Lombard made Kalib Starnes submit from punches.  Lol. 

The other reason you really want to watch this event is the women's 115 lb champ will be decided.  Megumi Fujii vs. Zoila Frausto will be happening, and you know it's going to be a crazy fight.  Whatever my thinking is about the frankly questionable judging that got Frausto here, this fight is going to be huge.  Megumi is 22-0 and is currently ranked the #1 female fighter in the world.  #5 ranked Frausto earned her ticket into the tourney with a highlight reel KO of Rosi Sexton last season, and is currently 9-1.  Her only career loss came from Meisha Tate in March of this year.   I'm almost jumping up and down for this match - if I find out that FSS isn't showing it, I might be driving to Atlanta to have a word with someone down there. 

Sengoku Raiden Championship 15

Saturday, October 30, 2am, HDNet

I fully realize that if you're not already planning on watching Sengoku 15, nothing I can tell you is really going to change your mind.  But if you love good, exciting fights, you should really watch the Japanese shows whenever you can.  Two fighters alone on this card are worth losing the sleep for: Maximo Blanco and Masanori Kanehara.  Maxi is a blast to watch, and won the lightweight King of Pancrase title last year.  Kanehara holds wins over Michihiro Omigawa and the Korean Zombie Chan Sung Jung, among others.  Free MMA is not so plentiful in our world that you should just ignore a chance to see great fights - set your alarm, have some espresso, and watch this Saturday morning.  I might just be here blogging the event live, so you can complain straight to me if the fights aren't great!