(And just when they were figuring out proper product placement! Curses!!)

Well, we can’t say this looks good.

Thanks to a last-minute injury that saw their (cursed) main event scratched, Ray Sefo and the gang were forced to push the featherweight title fight between Georgi Karakhanyan and Lance Palmer from the co-main spot into the spotlight at WSOF 7 last weekend. Viewing audiences apparently did not approve of this unfortunate yet necessary change, or maybe they just had better things to do on a Saturday night. Or maybe we were all tapped out from the epicness that was Fight Night 33. In any case, it appears that none of you heeded our advice and tuned into WSOF 7. Seriously, like none of you (via MMAPayout):

MMA Payout has learned through Nielsen sources that World Series of Fighting’s event on Saturday night received a meager 94,000 viewers.  WSOF 7 from Vancouver, BC in Canada competed with a heavy night of college football, boxing and Invicta FC. 

One could argue that the lack of “compelling” fights (which, as we pointed out in our breakdown, was not the case with WSOF 7) and multitude of events that transpired last weekend were responsible for the utter failure that was WSOF 7. But as MMA Payout also pointed out, WSOF 6 managed to draw in 161,000 viewers despite competing with both Mayweather-Alvarez and Fight Night 30.

Perhaps most troubling, however, is the complete nosedive WSOF’s ratings have taken over their last few events.

Nick Newell scored a guillotine choke victory over Sabah Fadai at WSOF 7 last night. It looked like Newell, who’s now 11-0, hardly broke a sweat during the 81 seconds the match lasted.

Nick Newell kicked ass and tore up the regional lightweight scene en route the WSOF. He even left the XFC because he felt he was fighting beneath his level of competition; he wanted UFC veterans and promising prospects. Newell deserves a fight against such an opponent at this point in his career; his abilities surely can’t be denied at this point.

Also of note on WSOF 7: Georgi Karakhanyan defeated the highly accomplished wrestler Lance Palmer to become the first-ever WSOF featherweight champion. Jesse Taylor, the guy who got kicked off TUF for trashing a casino with a drunken possy (except without the possy), won a No.1 contender fight against Elvis Mutapcic. Taylor will now face David Branch for the inaugural WSOF middleweight title.

See other highlights from the weekend after the jump.

(INVICTA FC 7 – Road to Honchak vs Smith via Invicta FC)

With the UFC putting on an event practically every weekend nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder for even the most hardcore fan to keep up with all the action, let alone the great fights transpiring under lower-level banners like WSOF, Invicta FC, Cage Warriors, and the like. So while most of the MMA world will remain focused on Fight Night 33: Hunt vs. Bigfoot (which is a relatively stacked card, all things considered) this Friday, we’ve decided to highlight a handful of lesser-known-yet-equally-intriguing bouts for you Taters to keep an eye out for this weekend. And here you thought we weren’t MMA fans anymore.

World Series of Fighting 7

Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer

Thanks to a last second toe injury, the originally scheduled (also, cursed) main event between Mike Kyle and Anthony Johnson was recently scrapped from WSOF 7, shuffling the co-main event matchup between Armenian powerhouse Georgi Karakhanyan and undefeated grappler Lance Palmer into the spotlight. And quite honestly, it’s a far more compelling fight in our opinion.

(Ian McCall’s broken hand is laughing at you right now, Mike.)

In the very brief history of The World Series of Fighting, Anthony Johnson vs. Mike Kyle has been booked on two separate occasions yet has never come to fruition. It probably never will.

The pair was first scheduled to collide in the main event of WSOF 5 last September, until “Rumble” was forced to pull out from the bout with an injury and replaced by Andrei Arlovski (who eventually defeated Kyle via unanimous decision). The pair was then rescheduled to throw down in the main event of WSOF 7 on December 7th. A press release sent out earlier this morning, however, informs us that the fight has once again been scrapped. Did I mention that it will likely never happen ever?

“I’m as disappointed as anyone that we’re forced to cancel this fight, but Mike just could not compete with his broken toe, and we simply could not find a suitable opponent for Anthony on such short notice,” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said.

“That said, we are fortunate that we still have a fantastic championship matchup between Georgi Karakhanyan and Lance Palmer that will now serve as our main event, and I think fans are still going to enjoy an incredible fight card.”

(Newell takes the Black Assassin for a ride at WSOF 4. / Photo via Sherdog)

Undefeated lightweight and all-around good guy Nick Newell (10-0, nine wins by first-round stoppage) has booked his next assignment in World Series of Fighting, following his successful debut against Keon Caldwell in August. The promotion has confirmed that Newell will face 7-2 MFC veteran Sabah “The Persian Warrior” Fadai at WSOF 7, December 7th at the PNE Agrodome in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Sabah Fadai is a 28-year-old B.C. native who hasn’t competed since a first-round triangle-choke victory against Cody Krahn at MFC 35 in October 2012. Fadai’s two fights before that resulted in a no-contest (after Fadai illegally kneed Diego Bautista at MFC 33) and a decision loss to Mukai Maromo at MFC 31. Though all of Fadai’s wins have come by stoppage, he’s only been victorious once in the last three years.