After what seems like a year between PPVs we are back with a helluva card from Dana on this beautiful fall day. I have been one to shit on the awful cards that they force me to pay $80 for, but I have to praise the good ones when we get them too. Doesn’t feel like any fight was shoehorned in here for the sake of building a start or a token WMMA fight, they all belong for the most part. We have the highly anticipated rematch between Pereira and Ankalaev, another bantamweight gets fed to Merab for the belt, Jiri and Khalil locking horns for the potential next title challenger, Emmett gets to test if Zalal is the real deal at 145, and Joe Pyfer looks to get his 3rd in a row to waltz into the title picture against Abus Magomedov. Some new and old names in the prelims that keep things fresh and interesting, really excited to watch this one after the Yankees smoke the Blue Jays. Let’s get into these picks.
Main Card
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira Light Heavyweight Championship Bout
I will always be a biased fan. I will seldom take the Dagis even though they almost always win. Pereira lost decisively in the last fight but it wasn’t pure domination. Most of the fight was spent with Ankalaev holding Pereira up against the cage, not too much on the ground which is where it gets bad. Pereira just needs to fight off the clinch a little more and land some shots and he changes the outcome completely. I will without a doubt take the best striker in UFC history (probably not true) as a 2-1 dog against a caveman who just grapples. Please get the belt back, Poatan.
Alex Pereira by 2nd Round TKO +210 1 unit
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen Bantamweight Championship Bout
What do we even have to say here? Merab has shown us that if he is going up against a guy with mediocre wrestling, he will manhandle you for 25 minutes and make you wish you never agreed to the fight in the first place. There is not a single person in the UFC that can have 10 unsuccessful takedowns and still have the gas to keep trying and trying again like Merab can. Even if Sandhagen finds a way to stuff the shots early, they won’t stop coming. The only chance anyone, including Sandhagen, has against Merab is being able to fight from your back which Cory hasn’t proven in his UFC tenure. Merab no doubter here.
Merab Dvalishvili by Decision (Unanimous Decision Line) -150 2 units
Jiří Procházka vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. Light Heavyweight Bout
This was the toughest one to pick. Jiri hasn’t lost to anyone in the UFC not named Alex Pereira. He destroyed Jamahal, Rakic, and luckily beat Glover in the final seconds. Rountree has had more of a rollercoaster of a UFC career, some bad and average losses in the middle of his career before he rattled off 5 straight wins before getting a title shot against Pereira, where he looked great before he didn’t. Rountree since going to Thailand has looked like a different man, it has greatly been part of his career resurgence and why he was able to compete with Poatan for so long in that fight. Jiri is a voodoo man and can win like DDP whenever he wants to by falling piano, but I see Rountree being too much at the end of this one when he doesn’t go down early.
Khalil Rountree Jr. by 3rd Round TKO +165 1 unit
Josh Emmett vs. Youssef Zalal Featherweight Bout
Word on the street is Emmett had a great camp with Dillashaw, throwing up the first 5 days until his cardio was finally up to snuff. The problem is, cardio was never Emmett’s issue. He is a low volume striker that only wins fights when he finds that KO or if he is fighting Kattar. Zalal is better nearly everywhere in the octagon except doesn’t have that same power. Wouldn’t be the worst idea to take Zalal by decision and Emmett by KO on the other end, should hit one of the 2.
Youssef Zalal by Decision (Unanimous Decision Line) -125 1 units
Abus Magomedov vs. Joe Pyfer Middleweight Bout
Abus has strung together 3 solid wins (Michel should go back down to Welterweight) after dropping 2 straight to 2 of the best fighters in the weight class. Pyfer has 2 straight wins after his shocking defeat to Jack Hermansson. Both of these guys are set up to be a top 5 fighter in the weight class if they win here and would likely be 1 fight away from challenging for gold. Pyfer is pretty annoying, similar to Bo Nickal, making excuses constantly and thinking they are unbeatable. Abus is Dagi but moved to Germany at a young age which fortunately means he isn’t a hugging merchant and is actually fun to watch. Even with all of that said, Pyfer seems to have more weapons in his arsenal and should be able to put away Abus as long as he doesn’t get caught.
Joe Pyfer by 2nd Round TKO (Prop Finish Line) -115 1 unit
Prelims
Ateba Abega Gautier vs. Tre’ston Vines Middleweight Bout
Ateba Abega Gautier by 2nd Round TKO (SGP o .5 Rds and TKO) -135 1 unit
Daniel Santos vs. Yoo Joo-sang Catchweight (153 lb) Bout
Yoo Joo-sang by Decision +124 1 unit
Patchy Mix vs. Jakub Wikłacz Bantamweight Bout
Patchy Mix by Decision (SGP o 1.5 Rds) -115 1 unit
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. André Muniz Middleweight Bout
Edmen Shahbazyan by 2nd Round TKO (SGP o .5 Rds) -155 2 units
Early Prelims
Punahele Soriano vs. Nikolay Veretennikov Welterweight Bout
Punahele by 1st Round TKO (Prop Finish Line) -105 1 unit
Macy Chiasson vs. Yana Santos Catchweight (137.5 lb) Bout
Macy Chiasson by Decision (SGP o 1.5 Rds) -110 2 units
Chris Gutiérrez vs. Farid Basharat Bantamweight Bout
Farid Basharat by Decision (Unanimous Decision Line) -150 1 unit
Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Austin Vanderford Welterweight Bout
Ramiz Brahimaj by 1st Round Submission +235
Veronica Hardy vs. Brogan Walker Flyweight Bout
Veronica Hardy by Decision (Unanimous Decision Line) -185 2 units
Draftkings Lineup:
That is all I have for you this wonderful night of fights. A lot of these stupid props will likely just become parlays because I get greedy. This is the first card I can sit at home and watch in so long, very excited to get back into the game and tweet and hopefully add some earnings on top of that. That is all I have for you this evening, remember to stick to your units and gamble responsibly. As always, may luck be your lady tonight!