The five-fight, NBCSN-televised main card for World Series of Fighting 9 is now complete with the addition of three new contests, including welterweights Josh “The People’s Warrior” Burkman (26-10) vs. Tyler “The Evolution” Stinson (27-9), lightweights Ozzy Dugulubgov (5-1) vs. Johnny Nunez (4-0) and featherweights Mike Corey (12-3-1) vs. Shane Kruchten (11-2).
WSOF 9 main card gets Burkman-Stinson, Dugulubgov-Nunez and Corey-Kruchten
The three new bouts join a pair of previously announced championship matchups at “World Series of Fighting 9: Carl vs. Palhares,” which takes place March 29 at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
“We were already excited for this card with our welterweight champion Steve Carl facing Rousimar Palhares and Marlon Moraes facing Josh Rettinghouse for our inaugural featherweight title,” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. “But now we’re adding a big welterweight fight with two fan favorites in Josh Burkman and Tyler Stinson, as well as two key bouts that could see some of our developing contenders make a big statement in the lightweight and featherweight divisions.
“This card should be absolutely fantastic.”
Tickets for World Series of Fighting 9, which start at just $39, are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets can also be purchased at The Joint box office or by phone at (800) 745-3000. The night’s featured fights air live on NBCSN at 9:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. PT local time) following preliminary bouts that stream on World Series of Fighting’s official website, WSOF.com.
Burkman, of Salt Lake City, returns to the decagon following a failed October attempt to claim the World Series of Fighting’s inaugural welterweight belt. The loss put an end to Burkman’s impressive five-fight winning streak that included World Series of Fighting victories over MMA notables Jon Fitch, Aaron Simpson and Gerald Harris.
Meanwhile, Stinson, who’s based in Denver, made his World Series of Fighting debut in January, earning a hard-fought TKO win over Valdir Araujo. The 28-year-old Stinson now boasts four consecutive wins and makes his first main-card appearance for the promotion.
Dugulubgov, who trains with Renzo Gracie’s team in New York, seeks his third straight World Series of Fighting victory. After outpointing Chris Wade at World Series of Fighting 2, Dugulubgov scored an impressive submission victory over Andrew Osborne with a second-round Achilles lock at September’s World Series of Fighting 5 event and now owns a four-fighting winning streak.
Nunez, who’s based at Las Vegas’ Syndicate MMA, made his pro debut in 2012 and has gone unbeaten at 4-0 with three stoppages. The impressive prospect now makes his World Series of Fighting debut.
Corey, a Team Curran fighter based in Chicago, fights for the first time under the World Series of Fighting banner. Seven of his 12 career wins have come by way of stoppage, including six submissions. The 29-year-old looks to rebound from a disappointing April loss but was unbeaten in his seven prior appearances.
Kruchten, a San Diego-based fighter who trains at The Arena, lost the first two fights of his pro career. However, he has since rebounded with 11 straight wins, including nine victories by stoppage. He now makes his World Series of Fighting debut, as well.
