UFC 205 Date: November 12, 2016 Arena: Madison Square Garden City: New York City, NY The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads to New York City for the first time in both promotional and mixed martial arts history for UFC 205. The stacked 13-fight card will get going with preliminary card action on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. (ET). Preliminary action will continue on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m., leading into the Pay-Per-View main card at 10 p.m. If interested in wagering on any bouts for this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakers. Here is my parlay: Lightweight bout: Thiago “Pitbull” Alves (-160) vs Jim Miller (+140) Gabe’s Thoughts: Alves is finally set to make his debut in the UFC’s lightweight division after competing his entire UFC career at welterweight. I think this is a good matchup for him and see him getting his hand raised in his lightweight debut. He has a big advantage on the feet, and I think he will find success in defending Miller’s takedown attempts and keeping the fight there. On the feet, I think the Brazilian stands a very good chance of stopping the New Jersey native with strikes, but should he fail to find the fight-ending finish, I think he will have done enough to convincingly earn a unanimous decision win on the judges’ scorecards following three rounds of action. Gabe’s Call: Alves by T/KO (body-kick and punches, 2:13 round 1) Middleweight bout: Rafael “Sapo” Natal (-155) vs Tim Boetsch (+135) Gabe’s Thoughts: This is a rare “winner vs. loser” matchup in the UFC’s middleweight division, with Boetsch coming off a second-round TKO win over the recently deceased Josh Samman, and Natal suffering a unanimous-decision loss to Robert Whitaker in his last fight. Natal will have the home advantage, as New York City is his adopted hometown. I believe he is the superior striker heading into this contest and see him keeping this fight at range and out-striking Boetsch. I think he has a decent chance of finishing the fight, but I believe a victory on the judges’ scorecards after three rounds of action is more likely. On top of having the edge in striking, I would also give him the edge in grappling. He has solid wrestling and while Boetsch’s wrestling is better, Natal’s superior Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu makes the difference. Gabe’s Call: “Sapo” by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Gabe’s Recommended Parlay: Alves (-160) and Natal (-155) at +167 for 3.5u to win 5.85u
