A pair of high profile bouts from the UFC lightweight and heavyweight divisions have been added to upcoming fight cards, and I’ll give my first thoughts on these brand new matchups in the current MMA odds and ends.
Justin Gaethje vs. Edson Barboza, UFC Fight Night 148
An intriguing lightweight bout between strikers Justin Gaethje and Edson Barboza has been targeted for UFC Fight Night 148, which takes place March 23 at Bridgestone Arena at Nashville, Tennessee. Farah Hannoun broke the news, though ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported that the fight may occur at UFC Fight Night 149 another week in Philadelphia. Either way, it looks like this struggle will happen, which is fantastic news for MMA fans as it pits among the very dangerous and exciting strikers from the lightweight division against each other.
Gaethje (19-2) is 2-2 so far in the UFC but is now a household name to MMA fans due to his ability to put on an amazing show. He has already racked up five bonus awards, including three”Fight of the Night” awards and two”Performance of the Night” awards, including a bonus because of his KO over James Vick last August. He’s been more prone to being knocked out in the UFC as he dropped to Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez, but as he demonstrated against Vick and Michael Johnson, he has unbelievable knockout power himself. Barboza (20-6) is 14-6 overall in the UFC and in his last fight he place on the 2018″Beatdown of the Year” because of his barbarous TKO win over Dan Hooker. Barboza is known for his mortal leg kicks and incredible knockout energy, but like Gaethje he’s been prone to the knockout too.
This looks like an amazing battle on newspaper, and also the fact it’s place for five rounds is just enormous. Both men are excellent fighters and I’m expecting a close betting line. At this point, it looks like close to a Select ‘em fight, but thinking about how great Barboza appeared in his last fight he may get more assistance from bettors due to recency bias.
Curtis Blaydes vs. Justin Willis, UFC Fight Night 148
A heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Justin Willis can also be set for UFC Fight Night 148. FloCombat’s Nolan King broke the news. Blaydes (10-2, 1 NC) is 5-2, 1 NC at the UFC and in his final fight suffered a brutal knockout loss to Francis Ngannou. He’d won four straight fights before that, though, including a TKO over Alistair Overeem, and could easily get back into the heavyweight title talks with another few wins. Willis (8-1) is 4-0 in the UFC and in his final fight picked up the biggest win of his career to date over Mark Hunt. The problem with Willis is that he hasn’t shown off considerably completing ability from the UFC, and his wrestling is likely to be negated in this matchup against Blaydes. It is heavyweight so that you can’t ever count anyone out, but on paper that looks like Blaydes’ struggle to win and I expect him to be a strong favorite as soon as the odds come out.
Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links and MMA Odds Breaker is going to be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the hyperlinks.
Read more: attworldnews.com