Jake’s Punch Lines UFC Fight Island 1

Dana White’s Wednesday Night Violence premiers tonight! I did not think this would actually happen to be perfectly frank, so I waited a bit too long to write this one. Fortunately, my pessimistic ass was proven wrong, and we get to watch some great fighters take out their quarantined aggression on each other. This is a pretty cool card to make on such short notice, the Main Event is truly a Main Event, and the rest of the Main Card could be a normal fight night Main Card. All in all what I am trying to say is that this doesn’t feel like a Wednesday card, this could very well be a Saturday night card without me complaining (which says a lot).

Calvin Kattar was a championship rounds fight away from beating the number 2 contender in the world. Dan Ige doesn’t give a shit about that and has played hype killer in pretty much every fight he has ever had. Tim Elliott and Ryan Benoit both kinda suck, but do make for entertaining fights. Jimmie Rivera and Cody Stamann going up in weight to make the short notice bout and should be a real sleeper on this card. Meatball Molly is back in action to climb her way up the rankings of an ever changing division. 

Let’s get into these picks:

Main Card

Calvin Kattar vs Dan Ige Featherweight Bout

Calvin Kattar should have had a Main Event fight against Zabit and taken that Dagestani Abe Lincoln into deep waters and won. Instead he got a 3 round fight where he dropped the first 2 and won the 3rd. It is tough to see fights like that because you know this guy had what it takes to win if he just had a bit more time. That being said, it is still a fair loss and Zabit/Judges did not do anything wrong. Kattar has been battering everyone he has faced not named Zabit or Renato with his 4 last wins being by TKO/KO. He looks to keep things out of judges’ hands yet again this evening, but he has a monster in his way.

Dan Ige does not care what your name is. He does not care who you have beaten. He does not care if you are supposed to be on a path to stardom. Dan Ige is here to win the damn fight, and that is just what he has done in his last 6 bouts. Taking out a couple of top prospects and a lightweight top 10 who moved down to 145 during this stretch. Here comes his biggest test to date, will he have what it takes to show people he is the real deal? Sure him getting this fight in general means people think he is the real deal, but taking down someone ahead of him in the rankings is a big step to getting into that top 5. All of that being said, Kattar should still beat the breaks off of him. I thought Ige lost his last fight and possibly to Bektic as well. Kattar with 5 rounds will not let Ige win and will be far too much to handle.

Calvin Kattar by 4th Round TKO -303 2 units

Tim Elliott vs Ryan Benoit Flyweight Bout

Not much to say about this one. Both of these fighters are on the cusp of being cut. Benoit manages to win every other fight to stay kind of relevant. Tim Elliott had promise after TUF and a title shot but has dropped 3 straight and is barely holding on to his contract at this point. I saw an interesting stat that Benoit is 1-6 away from America, this being short notice cannot help. Tim Elliott has a big issue gassing out while going for submissions and that’s how he ends up losing in the end. Fortunately for Tim Elliott that won’t matter this evening because he will lock in that sub before the fatigue sets in! So let’s take him!!!!!

Tim Elliot by 2nd Round Submission -145 1 unit

Jimmie Rivera vs Cody Stamann Featherweight Bout

(Disclaimer I have extreme bias for Jimmie Rivera)

Jimmie Rivera is my guy. I trained with him for 2 years and he is just an all around good dude. Going on a 20 fight win streak is no easy feat, he came up against a murderers row of competition after that. Marlon Moraes, Aljo, Yan, and John Dodson thrown in there so he could breathe. Considering by the end of this year those first 3 guys will have all fought for a title since they fought Jimmie, it is hard to say they are bad losses. He got dropped by Yan at the end of the first 2 rounds, likely had them won before that, but was fighting stupid and stayed in the pocket. Aljo had him guessing on takedowns the whole time and was able to control things from there.

Cody Stamann’s recent win over Brian Kelleher is arguably his best win and he looks to add to his streak tonight. He would have lost to Song Yadong if it wasn’t for an illegal knee but was able to snag the draw with point deduction. Cody Stamann is the better wrestler in this fight. Cody Stamann has the reach in this fight. The thing Cody lacks is his ability to keep guys down and strike effectively. Jimmie will win this fight on volume and scramble out of any and all grappling exchanges. 

Jimmie Rivera by Decision -140 1 unit (Heed my warning!!!!)

Molly McCann vs Taila Santos Flyweight Bout

Meatball is back! I am not sure if she is one of my favorite fighters by name or because she is actually good, but I am on board. She has won 3 in a row now and is looking to make it 4 with a win over up and comer Talia Santos. Santos is a very good fighter who sported an undefeated record until she dropped a split decision to Mara Romero Borella. While Talia poses a very real threat, all of her wins are against nobodies in smaller promotions. She was given a test in her debut and failed. Molly will make easy work of her and take this W.

Molly McCann by Decision -150 2 units

Abdul Razak Alhassan vs Mounir Lazzez Welterweight Bout

This one is very tough for me. Abdul Razak Alhassan was a monster in his last few fights with the banner before a long break (alleged sexual assault) and looks to keep his streak going with all but one of his fights ending by KO/TKO. The man has absolute bombs in his hands. I rewatched both fights with Homasi, the first fight was definitely a suspect ending and the second had a definitive ending of death. 

Mounir Lazzez comes into this fight for his UFC debut looking to show the world who he is. Lazzez too, enjoys putting people to sleep with only one win going to the judges and one loss. He has not come up against the same type of competition as Alhassan, but fights a smarter fight when he is in there. Alhassan was in trouble several times during his fights and was saved by the ref in each Homasi fight. Alhassan has the ability to end any fight at any moment, but as a -360 fighter, I just don’t see him being that much better than his competition here. 

Mounir Lazzez by 1st Round TKO +255 1 unit

Prelims

John Phillips vs Khamzat Chimaev Middleweight Bout

Khamzat Chimaev by 2nd Round Submission – 400 2 units

Ricardo Ramos vs Lerone Murphy Featherweight Bout

Lerone Murphy by Decision +130 1 unit

Modestas Bukauskas vs Andreas Michailidis Light Heavyweight Bout

Modestas Bukauskas by 1st Round TKO -165 2 units

Chris Fishgold vs Jared Gordon Featherweight Bout

Chris Fishgold by 3rd Round Submission +125 1 unit

Diana Belbiţă vs Liana Jojua Flyweight Bout

Liana Jojua by Decision +150 1 unit

Jack Shore vs Aaron Phillips Bantamweight Bout

Jack Shore by 3rd Round Submission -900 (Bet the over 1.5 Rounds if you take anything)

DraftKings Lineup:

Any fight night with only 11 fights makes this very tough. A fight was scrapped and there are heavy favorites in this one, but with my confidence and my underdogs being scrappy this is what I put together for this evening.

To be honest, I am avoiding a Parlay for this evening. I want to take tonight fight by fight and just start racking up dough. Saturday was a big night for the favorites, I think we are going to see more underdogs shine on this one. The 30 foot cage had a lot to do with it in my opinion, underdogs didn’t have that chance to get close and cause chaos, but we are adjusted now and so is vegas. I haven’t had a bad week in a long time despite what the haters think, my worst week was 6-7 during this quarantine and that is barely a loss. This is a big one for us. As always, may luck be your lady tonight!