A look at how MMA's big-show veterans are fairing in the world's smaller shows.
Tonight, Luke Rockhold will look to cement himself as the world's top middleweight, but in Poland last weekend another 185er continued to entrench himself as one of the best fighters to remain outside the UFC.
The big news this past weekend came out of Poland's KSW 35, where Mamed Khalidov (32-4-2, 1-1 Sengoku, 1-0 EliteXC) staged the inaugural defense of his middleweight title against challenger Aziz Karaoglu (9-7-0). A glance at the numbers belies how worthy of a challenger Karaoglu was, as he headed into the fight on the strength of a three-fight win streak, all of which came by first-round (T)KO, and which included victories over UFC veterans Jay Silva and Maiquel Falcao.