Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Jon Fitch, the longtime UFC welterweight contender and the No. 7 fighter in the SI.com 170-pound mixed martial arts rankings, made his debut with the nascent World Series of Fighting on Saturday night in Las Vegas. The fight lasted all of 41 seconds and did not end well for him.

Fitch was floored by a Josh Burkman left-right combination in their first exchange of fisticuffs, then was choked unconscious so swiftly that referee Steve Mazzagatti didn’t seem to notice that he was out. The ref just stood there watching as Burkman let go of the submission hold all on his own, climbed to his feet and raised a fist triumphantly in the air. Fitch lay limply on the canvas.

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You win some, you lose some.

Title bouts, that is.

On Thursday afternoon in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as he was hyping a UFC 161 card (Saturday, 10 p.m. ET, PPV) that has zero championship fights on it, promotion president Dana White captured the full attention of the assembled media by announcing the next title defenses for his heavyweight, light heavyweight and welterweight champs. Three belts, up for grabs.

Then, on Friday, White unveiled still another tussle for a brass-and-leather strap. But this time, the news, which was released via Twitter, was not so welcome. Well, unless you’re a zombie from East Asia.

Anthony Pettis, the lightweight contender who dropped down to featherweight in order to challenge José Aldo, injured a knee in training and is out of the Aug. 3 title fight in Rio de Janeiro. According to White, he’ll be replaced in the UFC 163 main event by Chan Sung Jung.

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SI.com analyst Jeff Wagenheim provides his predictions for UFC 161, which takes place Saturday (10 p.m. ET).

Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson

OK, let’s see. I’m already on record with a main event pick in our Crash Course feature. Think anyone would notice if I go the other way here? It’s that close of a fight, that tough for me to call. I would not be surprised to see a Henderson right hand lay out Evans, Bisping-style. I would not be surprised to see Evans beat Henderson to the punch for three rounds, and wouldn’t even be shocked if Rashad became the first to finish “Hendo.” But I’m going to stick to my eenie-meenie-miney-mo pick, which I based on Evans’ recent history of a low flame on the fire that drives fighters. Henderson by decision.

Roy Nelson vs. Stipe Miocic

Just what “Big Country” wants: an opponent who’s a standup specialist, one who’s more polished at fisticuffs than he is, one who’ll make the same thud when he hits the canvas that Roy’s past foes have. Nelson by TKO.

Ryan Jimmo vs. Igor Pokrajac

After having his 17-fight win streak snapped in his last fight, Jimmo will be eager to get back on track. And he’s just the freight train to do that, especially against a guy who”ll stand and bang with him. Jimmo by TKO.

Alexis Davis vs. Rosi Sexton

Davis is on a mission to move up in the women’s bantamweight division, and to do that she needs to move this fight down to the mat. Once she gets there, she’ll know what to do. Davis by submission.

Pat Barry vs. Shawn Jordan

Both guys have had their ups and downs, but Barry has been doing it against a higher level of competition. That will make a difference. Barry by decision.

– Jeff Wagenheim

The July 13th light heavyweight title fight between IBF champion Bernard Hopkins and No. 1 contender Karo Murat has been cancelled due to Murat being declared ineligible to receive a visa from the United States, Golden Boy Promotions announced on Friday.

It is unclear if the fight will be rescheduled. On Friday afternoon, Hopkins tweeted that “it Looks like September I’ll be back!! Now, at least I can enjoy some of the summer.”

The 48-year old Hopkins (53-6-2) was scheduled to make his first defense of the title he won in March, when he outpointed Tavoris Cloud to become — for the second time — the oldest man to win a major title. Murat, 29, was originally the mandatory for Cloud. But the IBF granted Cloud an exception to fight Hopkins, with the stipulation that the winner would face Murat (25-1-1) in his next fight. 

“I’m extremely disappointed about the fight being cancelled,” said Hopkins.  “I was already in the gym, sparring and preparing for the fight, but things happen. I know [Golden Boy Promotions CEO] Richard Schaefer and the staff at Golden Boy Promotions are already working on something bigger and better.  I stay in shape so being ready is never a problem and I look forward to whatever fight is made for me in the near future.”

Said Murat, “Obviously I’m very disappointed, as I have been in training for almost three months now, but I understand that my promoter’s representative, Chris Meyer, is in talks with Richard Schaefer to discuss possible alternatives.”

IBF Chairman Lindsey Tucker told SI.com that the IBF would wait to hear from Murat’s team that Murat would be unable to attend. According to Tucker, an ordered, agreed upon fight being cancelled is “a problem we have never had before.” Tucker says the IBF could order the two sides to negotiate again or could elevate the next contender. That spot will be determined tonight, when undefeated Sergey Kovalev takes on Cornelius White in Bethlehem, Penn. (NBC Sports Network, 8 p.m.) for the No. 1 position in the IBF rankings.

If the IBF allows Hopkins to make a voluntary defense, Hopkins has made it clear he would like to unify the 175-pound titles. That could mean a fight against titleholders Nathan Cleverly, Beibut Shumenov or Adonis Stevenson, who became the WBC — and, more importantly, the lineal champion — with a stunning first round knockout of Chad Dawson last weekend. 

Hopkins could also pursue a fight with super middleweight titleholder Carl Froch. Hopkins has made it clear he is willing to fight Froch, who defeated Mikkel Kessler last month, in England, where Froch has become a huge box office attraction, and at a catch weight. 

– Chris Mannix

LOS ANGELES – To avoid the NFL crush, Bellator MMA will move from Thursday to Friday nights this fall, Spike TV president Kevin Kay exclusively told SI.com during a screening this week for Fight Master, its original MMA reality series debuting on June 19. 

Following a rare Saturday night launch on Sept. 7 –- which will also double as Fight Master’s live finale — Bellator’s ninth season will settle into the 9-11 p.m. ET slot on Sept. 13.

Thursday nights were a fruitful home for Bellator’s eighth season of tournament-style events, which concluded in early April. They averaged 862,000 viewers over 11 events on Spike (available in 100 million homes) — by far, the promotion’s most-watched season to date. Bellator previously aired on Friday nights on MTV2, another Viacom cable property in 80 million homes without HD capability, where it averaged approximately 155,000 and 162,000 viewers for its sixth and seventh seasons.

Despite the California-based promotion’s tangible growth this past season, Kay said the NFL’s return this fall (with the NFL Network securing a fair share of premium games on Thursday nights) precipitated an obligatory move for Bellator, which Viacom purchased a majority stake of in 2011.

Through a process of elimination, Kay landed on the new night, and said Bellator’s previous Friday run on MTV2, which doesn’t have the visibility of Spike, isn’t an indicator of the promotion’s potential this fall.

TNA Impact Wrestling, which previously served as Bellator’s lead-in, has already been moved back into Thursday’s 9 p.m. slot, where Kay said pro wrestling’s dedicated audience will hold up better against sport’s greatest juggernaut. Kay said the strength of WWE’s Monday Night Raw and Spike’s Tuesday night original programming eliminated an early-week slot for Bellator, which left Wednesdays or Fridays.

Fox Sports 1, the rebranded Speed channel, announced in May that it would feature UFC programming on Wednesdays.

“I don’t want to see Bellator going head to head with the UFC,” said Kay. “I don’t think that makes any sense for fans. No matter who would win in that scenario, you don’t want to not give the fans the choice to watch both.”

The Ultimate Fighter reality series, which flipped between live and taped fights during its three seasons on FX, earned some of its lowest ratings on Fridays, yet  Kay is optimistic that Bellator will grow a following on the new night, in the vein of boxing’s Friday Night Fights on ESPN.

“The Ultimate Fighter on Fridays was doing over a million viewers a week. I’ll take that, and with live fights, I think we’ll do even better,” said Kay. “There’s a lot of young men at home across [the] 18-49 [age demographic]. Gold Rush on Discovery  does 4 million viewers on Friday nights. [The viewers] are there. You just have to give them the right thing and I think live fights on Friday, without competition, is going to be the best place for Bellator.”

– Loretta Hunt

More than 800 miles separate the Canadian cities of Winnipeg and Calgary. Regardless, UFC’s director of operations for Canada, Tom Wright, assured the press Tuesday afternoon UFC 161 in Winnipeg would be far and away from last summer’s Calgary card — a card UFC boss Dana White famously said, “sucked.” Like it’s Calgary counterpart, Winnipeg’s UFC 161, scheduled for June 15, has been beset by injuries, including injuries to Renan Barao and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, that forced the cancellation of two headline bouts.

“Injuries are part of any sport and they’re certainly part of this sport,” Wright said. “But when you take a look at this you’ll see the 161 card has two Ultimate Fighter champions, you’ve got two former Strikeforce champions, you’ve got a former light heavyweight champion in Rashad [Evans] and a former Pride champion. . . Winnipeg, Manitoba is not going to be disappointed.”

Other quick hits from the call:

· Evans will be returning to the Octagon for the first time since his listless unanimous decision loss to Nogueira last February at UFC 156. Earlier this year, the 33-year-old Evans talked about worries of being cut by the UFC with another bad outing. But now, it seems, Evans is only looking forward. “You definitely want to get the monkey off your back when you stink up the joint,” Evans said. “I’m going to go out there and put on a show but not only to shut all the naysayers up but for myself. I felt like I let myself down more than anything and I can live with disappointing anyone else but I can’t live with disappointing myself.”

· Evans’s opponent in the main event, Dan Henderson, is also seeking redemption. Henderson dropped a split decision to Brazilian Lyoto Machida at UFC 157 last February. It’s a loss that obviously still irks Henderson. “I know I didn’t perform to my best and I could have done some things differently, but it’s hard to fight a guy that doesn’t really want to fight you.” But Machida, Henderson admits, isn’t the only fight from the past that irritates him. He said he still has “unfinished business” with Jon Jones. Henderson and Jones were scheduled to fight last September before a knee injury forced Henderson to withdraw. UFC matchmakers then leapfrogged Henderson and paired Jones with Chael Sonnen.

· After dropping Cheick Kongo at UFC 159 last April with his trademark knockout punch, fifth-ranked heavyweight Roy Nelson jumped atop the Octagon and rubbed his hands around his ample belly in celebration. When asked about his “everyman” physique, Nelson didn’t mince words. “People who tend to be in our sport tend to abuse PEDs or performance-enhancing drugs, so that’s the reason why I probably don’t look like the typical UFC fighter,” he said. Nelson accepted a bout with Stipe Miocic on short notice after he said Daniel Cormier declined to fight him.

– Melissa Segura

In 2011, Andre Ward battered Carl Froch over 12 lopsided rounds, winning a unanimous decision and firmly establishing himself as the No. 1 super middleweight in the world. But as I watched Froch batter Mikkel Kessler last week, a fight witnessed by 18,000 fans in London’s O2 Arena and millions more on Sky Sports in the U.K and HBO in the U.S., it occurred to me:

Ward needs Froch more than Froch needs Ward.

Think about it: Froch has options. The win over Kessler evened the series between the two and a third fight — in either England or Denmark — would be worth millions. Light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins is practically pleading for a fight with Froch, willing to come to the U.K. and fight at a catchweight to get it. Rising super middleweight contender George Groves is a promotional stablemate of Froch and would create an appealing all-England showdown.

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The cruiserweight division doesn’t get much press in the U.S., in part because most of the top fighters are European and also because many see the division as boxing limbo, a weight class for those that have outgrown light heavyweight and just aren’t big enough to contend with the heavyweights. Ask the casual fan to name the last cruiserweight fight they sat down and watched, and more often than not you will be met with a blank stare.

That’s too bad because over the last few years Marco Huck and Ola Afolabi have tangled in two entertaining fights. In 2009, Huck outpoint Afolabi, winning a back and forth bout that saw both land huge shots. They fought again last year, and again both teed off on each other, going 12 rounds in a fight that ended in a draw.

On June 8, Huck (35-2-1) and Afolabi (19-2-4) will meet again. Huck’s WBO cruiserweight title will be on the line, a prize Afolabi craves.

“My attitude is pretty simple,” Afolabi said. “This was my belt, this is my belt and I am coming to finally take it from him. I honestly do not see how I could lose this fight. I have been working to hard on myself and on the tactics. I should already have won the title last year. Now the time has finally come.”

After two physical fights, Afolabi expects another violent encounter.

“Huck always comes to fight,” Afolabi said. “When he turns up, he is going for it. He is a bit like a robot and just keeps coming. He is actually too tough to know when he has been hurt.”

Afolabi believes that changes in his diet in this camp will give him more stamina in the later rounds.

“I am eating properly and take vitamin supplements,” Afolabi said. “I quit eating cheeseburgers and other junk food and have turned to healthy food instead. It makes a huge difference. I could make the weight for the fight right now. So by not having to make weight I can concentrate on my training and keep my focus.”

“I am not going into the fight looking for a knockout. That would increase the risk of over-pacing during the first few rounds. However, I see myself stopping Huck early. Regardless of that, I am going to do whatever it takes to leave the ring as the winner.”

—Chris Mannix

The key word in the term “reality television” is not “reality” but “television.” Entertainment, or at least the promise of it, is what counts. If that means you must stretch the reality part a wee bit to pull in viewers, so be it.

Within that context, the UFC and Fox didn’t simply rescue, but in fact spiced up The Ultimate Fighter on Tuesday. Season 18 of the show, which will air beginning Sept. 4 on the new Fox Sports 1 cable channel, was to feature women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey coaching against unbeaten Cat Zingano. The first female coaches in the show’s history would be working with teams composed, for the first time, of both men and women. It’s groundbreaking in a multitude of ways.

Add to that some new made-for-TV drama. Zingano injured her right knee two weeks ago and had to drop out of the show, according to the UFC, which kept that information a secret until taping began on Tuesday. So when Rousey showed up in the promotion’s Las Vegas gym and the cameras rolled, she came face to face with her bitter nemesis, former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate. Surprise, surprise.

“For those of you who don’t know, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate don’t like each other at all,” UFC president Dana White said in a Fox video. “They have been battling, verbally and physically, for years. Now they are going to be living together here for six weeks.”

And afterward, they will fight — which is where this gets sticky if you care at all about the worthiness of title bouts.

When Rousey puts her belt on the line against Tate sometime in the fall, she will be the fourth UFC champion this year to defend against an opponent coming off a loss. Tate, who had her Strikeforce title dislodged and her elbow dislocated by a Rousey armbar when they first met last year, was on the verge of earning a rematch after winning the first two rounds of a No. 1 challenger showdown with Zingano in April. But “Alpha Cat” turned the tide in Round 3, blasting Tate with knees to the face until the fight was stopped with just over two minutes remaining. Apparently the TKO loss was good enough to earn Miesha another shot at Ronda.

Something has shifted in UFC matchmaking. José Aldo defended his featherweight championship in February against a man coming off two straight losses. Sure, Frankie Edgar is a former lightweight champ whose two prior defeats came in close title fights at that higher weight. But still. What about Georges St-Pierre, who put his welterweight strap on the line in March against Nick Diaz, who was coming off a loss and a year-long drug suspension? Just last month, Jon Jones defended the light heavyweight title against Chael Sonnen, who was coming off a knockout defeat and had not fought at 205 pounds in seven years. What a tangled web the UFC has weaved.

Now, it’s not like this hadn’t ever happened before 2013. But generally — though not always — it’s either been a championship fight loser being granted a rematch or someone getting an unforeseen shot at a title because of a champion’s retirement, failed drug test or some other extenuating circumstance.

GALLERY: Classic photos of Ronda Rousey

One might view Rousey vs. Tate II as the product of extenuating circumstances. Losing a coach two weeks before your high-profile reality show begins taping calls for desperate measures. And what were the UFC’s options? Sarah Kaufman is ranked higher than Tate, and is also an ex-Strikeforce champ, but she lasted less than a minute against Ronda last August. There’s also Liz Carmouche, who was scheduled to fight Miesha in July … and who did better than either Tate or Kaufman against Rousey, nearly submitting the champ early before succumbing to — what else? — an armbar in the final seconds of the first round. But that February bout, the first women’s fight in UFC history, was the most recent on the resumes of both Ronda and Liz. “Girl-Rilla” needs to wait a while for another title try.

An intriguing possibility for Rousey would have been fellow Olympian — and fellow groundbreaker — Sara McMann. Whereas Ronda became the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in judo when she took bronze in Beijing in 2008, McMann became the first female American silver medalist in wrestling four years later in Athens. But while both also share a 7-0 record, Sara has been building her MMA career more steadily than the meteoric champ has. McMann dominated Sheila Gaff in her UFC debut last month, and the promotion apparently believes she needs more seasoning before it can serve up an Olympian vs. Olympian clash.

In the end, the UFC has eschewed new blood for bad blood.

Rousey is all for it — after getting over her initial shock. Yahoo! Sports’s Kevin Iole, who was at the UFC gym, wrote that Ronda “was clearly stunned” when she spotted Tate, and stormed out in search of White. When she emerged back under the bright lights, Rousey was in full TV publicist mode. “This is what we really wanted all along,” she told Iole. “Everyone said an Ultimate Fighter between me and Miesha would be the best. We have a personal history with each other, and this is a personal show. For some reason, me and Miesha are intertwined in fate like Ali and Frazier or something like that.”

— Jeff Wagenheim

Three thoughts on Carl Froch’s unanimous decision win over Mikkel Kessler:

Froch continues to impress
In 2011, Froch lost a lopsided decision to Andre Ward in the finals of Showtime’s Super Six tournament, and at 34, it was fair to question if Froch had blown his best opportunity to prove he was among the top fighters in the world. But Froch followed up the loss with a dramatic knockout win over Lucian Bute—an undefeated, legitimate titleholder considered the best 168-pounder not in the Super Six—and on Saturday, Froch became a unified super middleweight champion with a decisive decision win over Mikkel Kessler, avenging a 2010 defeat. Froch, fighting for the third straight time in his home country of England, was as relentless against Kessler as he was against Bute, piling up points in the early rounds behind a stiff jab and an overwhelming work rate. Kessler rallied in the later rounds, even stunning Froch in the 11th, but Froch closed the show with a strong 12th, pummeling Kessler into a corner. The three judges scored the fight 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113, while SI.com had it 116-112. Everyone got it right.

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