by Chad Cooper
Another weekend of UFC action after going 3-2 last Saturday afternoon at UFC 242. We got screwed with no vaseline in the Barboza/Felder fight by the judges, but what’s new? This weekend’s action comes from inside the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia with the main card at 7 p.m. The entire fight card will be show exclusively on ESPN+.
Main Event (lightweight)
#4 Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (36-12, 1NC) vs. No. 5 Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje (20-2)
Odds: Gaethje (-200), Cerrone +170
Scoop: If you like violence, this is your fight. Remember the old underground Black Market DVDs we used to buy watching street fights? At 36, Cowboy Cerrone had a 3-fight win streak snapped by Tony Ferguson in June, which garnered another Fight of the Night bonus.
Gaethje is a KO machine – 85% of his fights have ended with him KO’ing his opponent and I believe that continues here, early.
PICK: Gaethje KO/TKO Rd 1 (-125)
Light heavyweight
#9 Glover Teixeira (29-7) vs. #13 “The Miner” Nikita Krylov (25-6)
Odds: Glover (-115), Krylov (-115)
Scoop: It’s the old Brazilian Teixeira vs Krylov, who is the first Ukrainian to sign with the UFC. Krylov is 1-1 in the UFC and comes to the cage with an impressive win over OSP, but I’m not sold on him.
Sure, he could slay Glover with a punch, but I think Glover makes this a dirty fight and tries to close the gap and go out with a submission win.
PICK: Glover via SUB, 2nd Rd (+195)
Heavyweight
Todd Duffee (9-3) vs. Jeff “Lights Out” Hughes (10-2)
Odds: Hughes (-130), Duffee (+100)
Scoop: Duffee hasn’t fought in 4 years due to tons of medical complications. He is fighting Jeff Hughes who is a training partner of UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic.
Don’t know who much Duffee has left in the tank, but if he wants to continue to fight, he needs to win here.
PICK: Duffee KO/TKO Rd 1 (+145)
Middleweight
Michael Pereira (22-9, 2NC) vs. Tristan Connelly (10-6)
Odds: Pereira (-550), Connelly (+370)
Scoop: Periera is a beast and gets Tristan Connelly, who is a last minute replacement. Tango is down. Shouldn’t be close.
PICK: Periera KO/TKO, 1st Rd
Middleweight
#13 Uriah Hall (15-9) vs. #13 Antonio Carlos Junior (11-3-1)
Odds: ACJ (-230), Hall (+190)
Scoop: ACJ is a BJJ black belt and all 11 of his wins have come by way of submission or scorecards. ACJ is the better fighter and if you bet him, place $ on him to finish in the first round.
If Uriah Hall can survive the first round defending the grappling/takedowns, we have us an interesting fight. Let’s take a stab at a huge upset here.
PICK: Hall via UD (+700)
Light heavyweight
#15 Misha Cirkunov (14-5) vs. Jimmy Crute (10-0)
Odds: Cirkunov (-125), Crute (-105)
Scoop: Cirkunov’s average fight time is 4:13 while Crute’s is 14:51. Only thing that really worries me here is Cirk’s chin…
PICK: Cirk via SUB, 3rd Rd (+220)
Prelims • 4 p.m. ESPN+
Marcin Tybura (17-5) vs. Augusto Sakai (13-1-1)
Cole Smith (7-0) vs. Miles Johns (9-0)
Andrew Sanchez (11-4) vs. Marvin Vettori (13-4-1)
Brad Katona (8-1) vs. Hunter Azure (7-0)
Chas Skelly (17-4) vs. Jordan Griffin (17-6)
Louis Smolka (15-6) vs. Ryan MacDonald (10-1)
Kyle Prepolec (12-6) vs. Austin Hubbard (10-3)