The weigh-ins for tonight’s World Series of Fighting 20 event scheduled for Foxwood’s in Connecticut went down yesterday, and the light heavyweight main event of David Branch and Jesse McElligott is official. Branch was originally scheduled to face off against Ronny Markes, but Markes suffered from dehydration and pulled out of the event, opening the way for the 5-1 McElligott to step in on short notice.
As expected, Branch is coming in a heavy favorite for this one, as the line has him a (-1050) favorite over McElligott, who is paying back at (+600). The over/under for this three round bout is at 2.5 rounds, with the over paying (+150) and the under at (-180).
Branch is the WSOF’s middleweight champion, and in his last outing he looked solid in withstanding the challenge of UFC veteran Yushin Okami. Okami was a long time UFC contender and the WSOF bought him in to raise the level of their division, but Branch handled him well, taking him out in the fourth round. After watching that fight, Branch’s move to light heavyweight is understood – Okami was always considered a big, strong middleweight, but in this fight it was clearly Branch who was the bigger man. Also, there is very little left at the 185-pound level that could be painted as a challenge to Branch. Trying to add a title in a second weight class is notable, even in a second class organization.
McElligott deserves kudos for stepping in on short notice against a dangerous guy like Branch. For McElligott, however, Branch is a huge leap from the type of competition he has been facing, and this will be his WSOF and television debut. An eyeball assessment from the weigh-ins hints that McElligott is unlikely to have the athleticism to hang with Branch long.
The winner of this bout is scheduled to face Teddy Holder,who won his semifinal bout at WSOF 19 over Thiago Silva. The light heavyweight title has been inactive, but the WSOF has lost talent in this weight class, most notably Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Should Branch capture the light heavyweight title, he is going to find himself in a similar situation to the one he just left at Middleweight. Who is he going to fight? Johnson left for the UFC and performed well enough to have earned a title shot.
