It’s fight night! Dana put together a real stinker of a card for us this Saturday evening, but at least there are 14 fights to make money off of. We only have one fight with any contender implications, thankfully that doesn’t matter for our wallets. 4 different fighters missed weight, with one of the fights being cancelled, this card has a strange energy to start. The main event is going to be painful to watch in my humble opinion, but as long as we cash who gives a flying fuck. Don’t have much to add to in terms of commentary for this card, so let’s just get into these picks.
Main Card
Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lewis Heavyweight Bout
Derrick Lewis just doesn’t have any fire in him. It sucks to hear in his interviews, but the man just doesn’t put in the work that these other guys do. He barely works on his wrestling, so any fight against a wrestler he gets taken down at will. He is ok at getting up off his back but that has been against guys smaller than him, Blaydes is a comparable size and the best wrestler in the whole weight class. Blaydes has said he is going to wrestle fuck him and doesn’t give a shit. The way I see it going is by the 3rd round Derrick will be out of gas after getting wrestle fucked for 10 straight minutes and will just allow himself to get TKOd.
Curtis Blaydes by 3rd Round TKO -150 2 units (Blaydes to win by TKO line)
Ketlen Vieira vs. Yana Kunitskaya Bantamweight Bout
How the fuck is this a co main, even for a fight night. Yana was great in Invicta but just hasn’t shown much since her entrance to the UFC forcing her to fight for the 145 belt against Cyborg/ Vieira has looked great outside of her Aldana fight and missed weight so she will have the size and strength advantage. Going to take the prop for her to win by decision, really like the line on it and don’t really see it ending any other way.
Ketlen Vieira by Decision -125 1 unit (Vieira to win by Decision line)
Charles Rosa vs. Darrick Minner Featherweight Bout
This is a way closer matchup than the line makes it seem. Both guys have great jiu jitsu and have a bunch of submissions under their belts. Charles got neutralized in his matchup with Bryce Mitchell and hasn’t fared too well against other strong grapplers. Darrick has gone to decision like twice in his whole career and has been on both ends of nearly every type of finish. I said fuck it and just want to ride the dog on this one.
Darrick Minner by 2nd Round Submission +165 1 unit
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Chris Daukaus Heavyweight
Chris Daukaus is an absolute killer and a great addition to this heavyweight class. He has been mauling guys in the first round constantly. Aleksei is old as fuck and just won’t win against young studs like this. Aleksei also has been getting wrecked in the early rounds and winning on occasion in early rounds. Here I am going with the logic that both of these guys being such early round lads will lead to it going to the late second round because they are hesitant of each other. This has worked a few times this year so I am going to let it ride.
Chris Daukaus by 2nd Round TKO -200 (Taking over 1.5 rds +160 1 unit)
Phil Hawes vs. Nassourdine Imavov Middleweight Bout
These guys are killers also, maybe this card doesn’t suck so bad. Phil Hawes has been ruining his opponents over the last few years and is making himself known as a possible future contender in this weight class. Nassourdine Imavov has been great, also finishing 4 of his last 6 fights with quite the arsenal of submissions. Looking at both of these guys, Hawes has a big standing advantage, and is a very strong wrestler to neutralize Imavov’s submission game. I like him as a very slight favorite here and am excited to see his climb to the top.
Phil Hawes by 1st Round TKO -122 1 unit
Andrei Arlovski vs. Tom Aspinall Heavyweight Bout
I hate when I am forced to do this. Dana with his stupid matchmaking is for making me bet against Arlovski. Well I guess it is more of Arlovski’s fault for not retiring yet. Arlovski has actually looked solid recently using a more patient approach opposed to running in and hoping for the best. Tom Aspinall on the other hand is another great young prospect in this weight class who has been tearing up his competition. I do not think Arlovski has what it takes to keep up with Aspinall’s speed and size, this should be a little bit of a slow pile up of strikes till Aspinall puts Andrei to sleep.
Tom Aspinall by 2nd Round TKO -125 1 unit (Aspinal to win by TKO line)
Prelims
Jared Gordon vs. Danny Chavez Featherweight Bout
Jared Gordon by Decision +105 1 unit
Drakkar Klose vs. Luis Peña Lightweight Bout
Luis Pena by decision +140 1 unit
Eddie Wineland vs. John Castañeda Bantamweight Bout
John Castaneda by decision -127 1 unit
Nate Landwehr vs. Julian Erosa Featherweight Bout
Nate Landwehr by 2nd Round TKO -125 1 unit
Shana Dobson vs. Casey O’Neill Flyweight Bout
Casey O’Neill by Decision -160 2 units
Chas Skelly vs. Jamall Emmers Featherweight Bout
Chas Skelly by Decision +210 1 unit
Aiemann Zahabi vs. Drako Rodriguez Bantamweight Bout
Drako Rodriguez by 1st Round Submission -185 2 units
Sergey Spivak vs. Jared Vanderaa Heavyweight Bout
Jared Vanderaa by 2nd Round TKO +205
DraftKings Lineup:
I am on a bit of a time crunch here so this is all I got for you guys. This card should be decently fun violence even though there aren’t many known names. I’ll leave it at that and as always, may luck be your lady tonight!