10 August Tussles Worth Watching

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In an effort to bring more attention to the global stage of mixed martial arts, this list does not focus on major North American-based promotions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA and the World Series of Fighting ...

Stephan Puetz can sit back and shine the M-1 Global light heavyweight championship while he waits for his next challenger to be revealed.

All signs point to a title eliminator at 205 pounds when former champion Viktor Nemkov meets Maro Perak in the M-1 Challenge 60 main event on Aug. 5 at Grinn Arena in Oryol, Russia. Fresh off his upset of the previously unbeaten Marcin Tybura, the once-beaten Puetz will rest on a four-fight winning streak while the two contenders provide clarity below him.

Nemkov last appeared under the Stary Oskol Mixed Martial Arts Federation banner in April, when he submitted Florian Martin with a rear-naked choke in a little less than two minutes. The 28-year-old Red Devil Sport Club representative has won 10 of his past 11 bouts, a split-decision loss to Puetz his only misstep. Nemkov, a combat sambo world champion in 2011, has secured 14 of his 21 career wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

Perak, meanwhile, enters the match on a two-fight losing streak, having dropped consecutive bouts to Tybura and Denis Smoldarev; the only other losses of the 32-year-old Croatian’s career were to Jeff Monson, Jordan Radev and Jan Blachowicz, all of whom have competed in the UFC. Perak has finished 19 of his 23 pro victories, 15 of them inside one round.

The Nemkov-Perak clash is but one outside-the-major-MMA-bubble matchup worth monitoring during the month of August. Here are nine more:

Mario Soto vs. Danny Navarro
Tachi Palace Fights 24
Aug. 6 | Lemoore, Calif.
Soto has been on the radar for those who follow the MMA scene in California for some time. The Team Alpha Male prospect has raced out to a 6-1 record and set up shop in the Tachi Palace Fights organization. “Dr. Mario” rebounded from his first professional loss -- a unanimous decision to the unbeaten Sinjen Smith in September -- with a second-round technical knockout against Dominic Clark on Nov. 6. Millennia MMA’s Navarro has banked 13 wins across his past 15 appearances.

Andrew Sanchez vs. John Poppie
Resurrection Fighting Alliance 28
Aug. 7 | St. Louis
The vacant Resurrection Fighting Alliance middleweight crown will be up for grabs when Sanchez faces Poppie in the RFA 28 main event. The 27-year-old Sanchez had momentum behind him before he was on the receiving end of a first-round knockout against Kevin Casey in 2014. He has since rebounded with a decisive victory over Clinton Williams on June 5. Sanchez has finished all six of his wins, four of them in the first round. The once-beaten Poppie will ride a four-fight winning streak into the match.

Isao Kobayashi vs. Will Chope
Pancrase 269
Aug. 9 | Tokyo
Former lightweight King of Pancrase Kobayashi takes aim at UFC castaway Chope in a high-stakes showdown at 145 pounds. The winner could conceivably be in position to challenge Nam Phan for the Pancrase featherweight championship later this year or in early 2016. Kobayashi, 26, has long been viewed as one of Japan’s most promising young fighters, with wins over former One Championship titleholder Koji Oishi and two-time Shooto lightweight champion Takeshi Inoue on his resume. The 24-year-old Chope has won five fights in a row, the last four of them via choke-induced submission.

Julian Lane vs. Luis Felix
CES MMA 30
Aug. 14 | Lincoln, R.I.
Lane will defend the CES MMA lightweight championship in a rematch with the man he dethroned. A graduate of Season 16 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, Lane has pieced together a four-fight winning streak since his October 2013 encounter with Paul Felder ended in a unanimous decision defeat. He captured CES MMA gold by choking Felix unconscious with a third-round guillotine a year ago and retained it with a five-round split decision over Lucas Cruz on Jan. 30. Felix has rattled off eight wins in his last 10 outings.

Marlon Sandro vs. Soo Chul Kim
Road Fighting Championship 25
Aug. 22 | Gangwon, South Korea
There was a time when former Sengoku champion Sandro was one of the most feared fighters in the world at 145 pounds, having sent more than one opponent out of the ring on a stretcher. Now 38, the Nova Uniao export’s skills may be in decline as he approaches the twilight of his career, but he remains a threat on the feet and on the mat. The 23-year-old Kim has recorded four straight wins since his five-round unanimous decision loss to reigning One Championship bantamweight titleholder Bibiano Fernandes in October 2013.

Andrew Parker vs. Sage Northcutt
Legacy Fighting Championship 44
Aug. 28 | Houston
Two undefeated welterweight prospects will toe the line against one another when Parker battles Northcutt under the Legacy Fighting Championship banner. A Team Takedown stablemate of former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, Parker has submitted four of his last five opponents with rear-naked chokes. The 28-year-old Texan owns a 2-0 mark in the Legacy organization. A decorated kickboxer who operates out of a Gracie Barra affiliate in Katy, Texas, Northcutt has put away all four of his foes inside one round.

Mizuki Inoue vs. Emi Fujino
Deep “Jewels 9”
Aug. 29 | Tokyo
Japanese prodigy Inoue will look to settle the score with Fujino, defend her Deep Jewels strawweight championship and put an end to a two-fight losing streak in the process. The 20-year-old Inoue has gone 1-3 since she beat Fujino in 2013 and will enter the rematch on the heels of back-to-back decision losses to Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Alexa Grasso, both of whom are undefeated. The well-traveled Fujino, 34, has won three in a row since she failed in her bid to unseat then-World Series of Fighting champion Jessica Aguilar in June 2014. “The Kamikaze Angel” has never been finished in her 24-fight career.

Yosef Ali Mohammad vs. Fernando Rodrigues Jr.
Inoki Genome Fight 4
Aug. 29 | Tokyo
Prospects often move quickly in the talent-starved heavyweight division. Such is the hope for Mohammad and Rodriguez ahead of their matchup inside the Inoki Genome Fight organization. Mohammad has looked like a world-beater over his last four appearances, with eight-, 48-, 66- and 85-second finishes. The Swede took out journeyman Dion Staring with first-round punches at Inoki Genome Fight 3 on April 11. Team Nogueira’s Rodriguez has notched seven of his eight victories by KO, TKO or submission.

Jens Pulver vs. Cleber Luciano
Title Quest “Pulver vs. Luciano”
Aug. 29 | Danbury, Wis.
Pulver, the UFC’s first lightweight champion, will return to the cage for the first time in almost two years. The 40-year-old Pat Miletich protégé has seen his better days but remains one of the sport’s most popular and likeable figures. Pulver last competed at a Superior Challenge event in November 2013, when he lost a three-round decision to Sami Aziz in Gothenburg, Sweden. “Little Evil” is just 6-13 across his past 19 appearances. Luciano, a well-honed California-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has won three straight and six of his last seven.