WSOF 20 Results: Branch Chokes Out McElligott, Newell Tops Condon

On Friday, April 10, World Series of Fighting held its 20th event from the Foxwood Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn.

There wasn’t a title on the line at the event, but the promotion boasted quite a few things about the lineup. It included a champion seeking to start his journey to a second piece of gold, a former Olympian, a man who overcame the odds as a congenital amputee, a late-replacement, and last, but not least, a real-life superhero.

The champion was middleweight kingpin David Branch, who shifted his focus to the 205-pound division and the promotion’s light heavyweight tournament. Branch clashed with Jesse McElligott in the tourney’s semifinal round, after his original opponent, Ronny Markes, was forced off the card on weigh-ins day.

The Olympian was Steve Mocco, who looked to rebound from a loss in his WSOF debut. His second WSOF opponent, Juliano Coutinho, was no pushover though. The two big men kicked off the evening’s main card.

The man who overcame the odds was, of course, Nick Newell. Newell came up short in his title bid against Justin Gaethje, but he started his climb back up the ladder when he met Joe Condon in the co-headliner.

The late replacement was Lucas Montoya, who stepped in for Melvin Guillard on less than a week’s notice. He went from being just one more name on the preliminary card to a featured bout opposite contender Ozzy Dugulubgov.

And then there was the superhero, Ben Fodor. The welterweight fighter put his “Phoenix Jones” persona aside to compete in the WSOF cage against Emmanuel Walo.

The preliminary card aired live on Combat Press at 6:15 p.m. ET. The five-fight main card followed on the NBC Sports Network at 9 p.m. ET.