With the UFC putting the Canadian market on the backburner, and the new Bellator all but abandoning a market they returned to several times, World Series of Fighting may have become the most active major promotion to make trips north of the border. Between WSOF numbered events, and WSOF Canada events, this will mark the promotion’s fifth event in Canada since December 2013, and they are scheduled to return again in June. The cards have all proven to be equal to the recent bar set by the promotion as well, as main events have included Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer, Jake Shields vs. Ryan Ford, and Thursday’s main event, Marlon Moraes defending his bantamweight title against Josh Hill. As with most recent WSOF cards, there isn’t much in terms of name value beyond the main event, but that seems to be the nature of most MMA in 2015. It should be mentioned however that while Moraes and Hill will be the last fighters to go on TV, the real main event of the evening is undoubtedly Cody McKenzie coming out of his lengthy MMA retirement to take on once-defeated prospect Andrew McInnes. McInnes has not lost since his pro debut to TUF Nations winner Chad Laprise, and choked out Ryan Healy in under three minutes in his last outing. The theme of the televised portion of the card is clearly striking, as Muay Thai exponents Shane Campbell, Mukai Maromo, and Hakeem Dawodu are all featured. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for WSOF 18 today at Several Bookmakers. Check them out below: ——————– WSOF Bantamweight Title Marlon Moraes -505 Josh Hill +335 Shane Campbell -315 Derek Boyle +235 Mukai Maromo -150 Jose Rodriguez +110 Hakeem Dawodu -315 Tristan Johnson +235 *Update: Added on Fight Day Andrew McInnes -475 Cody McKenzie +325 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: I think Josh Hill can keep his fight with Marlon Moraes competitive early, but I don’t think he can sustain the pace needed to smother Moraes’ striking for five rounds. Even if Hill manages a few takedowns early, every leg kick he eats to do so is going to make it that much harder for him come the championship rounds, and that’s where I see Moraes excelling. Hill has good cardio, but Moraes has faced plenty of fighters with good cardio who have been left useless after a couple of rounds against him, and I fear that Hill may be another. Rather than laying the large price on Moraes however, I’d probably look at the over. Shane Campbell already has a win over Derek Boyle from March of 2012, and I really don’t see enough changing between these two fighters to indicate a different result here. Of the fighters Boyle has faced, the only other one whose striking is in the same realm as Campbell’s was Chad Laprise, who also picked up a decision against him. Boyle has proven difficult to stop with strikes in his career, so I think Campbell takes another judges verdict here. Mukai Maromo is 8-0 against fighters not named Graham Spencer and Kurt Southern. Note that both of those fighters are grappling oriented. While Jose Rodriguez does have three submission wins on his record, it’s hard to judge how effective his ground game will be given the level of competition he’s faced thus far. I have to side with Maromo being able to keep this one in his comfort zone and outstriking Rodriguez. Hakeem Dawodu has been a wrecking ball since he transitioned from Muay Thai over to MMA. His three victories (all TKOs) have come in a combined 10:38 of cage time, and he’s facing a veteran in Tristan Johnson who has been susceptible to knockouts in his career. Johnson will have the edge on the ground here, but I don’t think his wrestling is capable of getting it to the mat consistently, and on the feet he’s going to be in trouble.
