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ESPN Staff Writer- Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
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Special to ESPN.com- Reed Kuhn is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and strategy and analytics consultant. He is the author of "Fightnomics: The Hidden Numbers and Science in Mixed Martial Arts," the first book to quantify drivers and performance metrics in combat sports.
UFC and Bellator will share the MMA stage this weekend with big fights and titles on the line.
Bellator kicks things off with the women's flyweight title on the line between Juliana Velasquez and Liz Carmouche. Velasquez is undefeated in 12 MMA fights thus far, while Carmouche fights for an MMA title for a third time after previously losing to Ronda Rousey (bantamweight, 2013) and Valentina Shevchenko (flyweight, 2019) in the UFC.
The UFC will spotlight Amanda Lemos and her rise to title contention on Saturday night when she faces Jessica Andrade, who will move down from flyweight to strawweight, where she won her first title nearly three years ago.
Meanwhile, Bellator finishes the evening with a rematch between Cris Cyborg and Arlene Blencowe, with Cyborg's featherweight title at stake. Cyborg is 4-0 with three successful title defenses after winning the championship in her first fight with the promotion.
MMA coach Kirian Fitzgibbons of CS Gym breaks down Saturday's main events for Brett Okamoto, while experts Ian Parker and Reed Kuhn look at the matchups with a betting angle in mind.
