One of the more intriguing heavyweight matches of the summer has been put on the back burner after an injury to one of the competitors. According to MMAFighting.com, heavyweight Matt Mitrione is injured and off the UFC on FOX 8 card. His scheduled opponent, Brendan Schaub, has also been pulled from the event, which is set to take place next Saturday at KeyArena in Seattle, WA. The report also states the at the UFC hopes to re-book the matchup for an upcoming fight card. This is very disappointing news for both fans and bettors, as this had all the makings of an exciting fight. The betting odds for the fight are sitting at Mitrione -130 and Schaub +110, although obviously that line will be pulled from the sportsbooks as soon as the UFC officially confirms the scratch of both fighters. It’s disappointing as I was personally going to make a bet on Mitrione at the -130 number. I thought that although Schaub’s wrestling could possibly give “Meathead” problems, his unwillingness to engage in action and his suspect chin were going to really cost him against an aggressive power puncher like Mitrione. Hopefully this fight can be re-booked soon, but obviously I’m going to be treading lightly now knowing that Mitrione is injured, as you never know what exactly the injury is or if it will linger on if the two do indeed fight in a few months. McGregor vs. Holloway Booked After Ogle Scratches Schaub and Mitrione aren’t the only fighters who have been pulled from an upcoming fight card today. UFC featherweight Andy Ogle has also been forced to withdraw from his scheduled matchup against Conor McGregor at UFC on FOX Sports 1 1. In his place will step Max Holloway, who takes the fight with McGregor on relatively short notice as the event is just about five weeks away. This is actually a better matchup, in my opinion, as both myself and many others figured McGregor was going to smoke Ogle in their fight. Instead, McGregor will actually get a real opponent in the form of Holloway, who was recently robbed by the judges in a decision loss to Dennis Bermudez at UFC 160. The fight between McGregor and Holloway should be relatively competitive, but I still expect McGregor to open at around -200 or possibly even more. Considering that Holloway is taking the bout on short notice, I actually favor McGregor in this one, and if I can get him at -200 or less I will likely be betting on him as I believe he is one of the most talented prospects the UFC has seen in quite some time.
