Early Look at the Prelims for UFC Fight Night 65 in Australia

hiokiThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to return to Australia on Saturday, May 9th with UFC Fight Night 65: Miocic vs Hunt. The event will feature an entirety of 12-bouts, all live on UFC Fight Pass. Preliminary action will get going at 7:45pm ET with eight bouts, and the four-fight main card will get underway at 11pm ET. If interested in wagering on this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Getting the action started for the preliminary card will be a flyweight contest between “The Turkish Delight” Alpetkin Ozlkilic and promotional newcomer Ben Nguyen. Ozkilic opened as the betting favorite in this contest at -270, with Nguyen being a +190 underdog. Action has since come in on the promotional newcomer, bringing betting lines to a current -185/+160. A pair of Australian welterweights go at it in the next bout on the prelims, as Brendan O’Reilly and Vik Grujic try to seize an opportunity to get into the win column. O’Reilly opened as a +110 underdog, with Grujic being favored at -150. The public has backed O’Reilly and tightened betting lines to +100/-120. A couple of women’s strawweights look to pick up their first UFC win in the next bout of the evening, as Australia’s own Alex Chambers squares off against the Hawaiian Kailin Curran. Chambers opened as a +160 underdog in this contest, with Curran being a -210 favorite. Lines have since tightened up a bit and currently sit at +155/-175. Two veterans of The Ultimate Fighter take center stage in the next fight of the night, as TUF: Smashes finalist Brad Scott takes on TUF Season 18’s Dylan Andrews. This is a must-win situation for both fighters, as they are likely facing contract termination with a loss. Scott dropped a unanimus decision to Claudio Silva in his last outing, putting him at 1-2 inside the Octagon. Andrews has now dropped his last two, both coming by way of T/KO. Neither middleweight has looked impressive as of late, so it would be no shock to see the loser sent packing. Scott opened as a slight -110 underdog in this contest, with Andrews being -130. Action has since come in on Scott and flipped the lines to the current -115/-105. The next bout of the evening sees a pair of TUF 20 veterans and rivals in Bec Rawlings and Lisa Ellis square off against each other, with Australia’s Rawlings opening as a -260 favorite and Ellis a +180 underdog. The public has opted to back the dog in this contest, and current betting lines have come to a current -150/+130. Yet another pair of veterans of The Ultimate Fighter are scheduled to scrap in the next fight on the prelims, with the Australian Daniel Kelly taking on Team Quest fighter Sam Alvey. This is a fight Alvey asked for following his last fight, where he scored an upset knockout of Cezar Ferreira in the very first round of action. Both 185-pounders now ride two-fight Octagon winning streaks and will be looking to extend that to three in highlight-reel fashion. This is the type of fight that doesn’t look much on paper but could end up being a real sleeper for Fight of the Night. Alvey opened as the betting favorite in this contest at -290, with Kelly being a +210 underdog. Action has since come in on Alvey, and current betting lines are -380/+315. Next up on the UFC Fight Night 65 preliminary card is a welterweight contest that sees promotional newcomer Jonavin Webb take on Australian veteran Kyle Noke. Webb opened as the slight betting favorite at -130, with Noke being -110, but the public has since backed the veteran and flipped the odds to their current -105/-115. Headlining the preliminary card of the evening will be a featherweight contest between New Zealand’s Daniel Hooker and Japanese veteran Hatsu Hioki. This should be a fun fight; one with bonus money written all over it. Both 145-pounders will be searching for a finish; Hooker on the feet and Hioki on the mat. There is a decent chance one of them finds what he’s looking for. Hooker was brilliant in his promotional debut, defeating fellow UFC newcomer and submission specialist Ian Entwistle via first round T/KO. Unfortunately, he come up short in is next outing, dropping a unanimous decision to veteran Maximo Blanco. Hioki is coming off a second round submission loss to Charles Oliveira and is now 3-4 inside the Octagon. Saturday night is likely the last chance for the 31-year old to get on track towards the UFC’s 145-pound gold. Hooker opened as a +200 underdog in this match-up, with Hioki being a -280 favorite. The lines have since tightened up a tad and rest at their current +230/-270.

Written by Gabe Killian

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