UFC 166 Date: Octber 19, 2013 Arena: Toyota Center City: Houston TX Lightweight bout: Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (-170) vs CB “The Doberman” Dollaway (+140) Fight Breakdown: Headlining the UFC 166 preliminary card on FOX Sports 1 is a middleweight match-up between two hard-nosed American wrestlers in the Matt Hume-trained fighter, Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch and The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season seven veteran, CB “The Doberman” Dollaway. Boetsch is currently the favorite in this bout at -170 ($170 to win $100), with the kickback on the underdog Dollaway being +140 ($100 to win $140) at Several Bookmakerss. TIM “THE BARBARIAN” BOETSCH (16-6 MMA, 5-3 UFC) is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in his professional mixed martial arts career. He suffered a TKO defeat at the hands of Costa Phillipou at UFC 155, a fight in which he tore his knee, and he followed that with a unanimous decision loss to Mark Munoz, a fight in which he was completely dominated. Before the setback, Boetsch was on a four-fight win streak that included an impressive comeback TKO victory over the recently-released Yushin Okami. If you ask me, that win streak was nothing short of pure luck. It all started with a unanimous decision win over TUF season 3 winner Kendall Grove, and okay, I’ll give him that one. He followed that with a close decision win over Nick Ring, in a fight I personally scored for Ring, while most agreed with the judges decision. Nick Ring would have beaten him had he not gassed. Speaking of cardio issues, Boetsch was getting dominated by Okami in his next bout, until Okami got blitzed and ended up getting TKO’d in the third round. That makes three wins in a row for Boetsch, and two of them being fights he was losing until his opponents ran out of gas. Finally, Boetsch faced promotional newcomer Hector Lombard, a fight in which he was a big underdog. Lombard did enough to win all three rounds in a very uneventful fight, but the judges awarded Boetsch the split decision. I, like many, believed it to be a horrendous robbery. Sure, Lombard did not do much, but he certainly did more than Boetsch. He has solid wrestling skills, works good takedowns, and implements an effective ground and pound attack. He isn’t very skilled on the feet, but he has a good chin and his striking is improving, as he continues to train with the legendary Matt Hume. Boetsch has great conditioning and will be prepared for a full 15 minutes of action, should the fight last that long. CB “THE DOBERMAN” DOLLAWAY (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) is making his return to the Octagon, after a nine-month layoff, and unlike his opponent who is currently on a two-fight skid, Dollaway is currently riding a two-fight win streak. He beat Jason “Mayhem” Miller by unanimous decision and followed that up with a split decision victory over Daniel Sarafian. While most agreed with the judges decision in that bout, I personally had it scored for Sarafian. Most scored round one for Dollaway because he rocked Sarafian at the tail end of the round, but I scored it for Sarafian because he did nothing but tool Dollaway up until that point. He wasn’t dominating, but he was certainly getting the better of him. A few seconds does not outweigh the first four and a half minutes, if you ask your Cousin Gabe. As far as the “Mayhem” fight, Dollaway barely won the fight, and let’s keep in mind the fact that Miller was fighting with a busted knee. He was just going in there for a paycheck. His gameplan was to just get in there, knock Dollaway out, and collect, and he almost did on several occasions. Every time they were on the feet, Miller would rock Dollaway, but Dollaway would end up recovering and taking advantage of Miller’s busted knee, by taking him down and playing the role of a blanket as much as possible. He barely got past an injured “Mayhem” Miller, and followed that with an undeserving split-decision, and now he’s going up against a guy coming off two losses, as he replaces an injured Luke Rockhold, who was meant to be Boetsch’s original opponent. Dollaway is not a very good striker, and his wrestling skills are average at very best. He can use it, along with his size, to win some fights, but ultimately, he is not a UFC caliber mixed martial artist. Training out of Power MMA in Arizona, “The Doberman” will have a height and reach advantage over “The Barbarian” heading into this bout, though he will be at a cardio disadvantage. Fight Prediction: Along with a cardio advantage, Tim Boetsch will certainly have a strength advantage over the larger athlete, CB Dollaway. It is also worth mentioning that Dollaway does not have a good chin whatsoever, while Boetsch can take anything Dollaway is able to throw at him. I see Boetsch beating Dollaway up and ultimately stopping him. Gabe’s Pick: Tim Boetsch by KO (uppercut, 0:48, round 2) Gabe’s Recommended Plays: Tim Boetsch -170 big, and also keep an eye out for Boetsch ITD and Boetsch -3.5 for another two big plays. I also like a moderate play on Under 1.5 rounds at +180.
