A number of new UFC fights were announced over the past 24 hours, and for today’s MMA Odds and Ends I’ll give my quick thoughts on all the new fight bookings. Jake Lindsey vs. Jon Tuck, UFC Fight Night 42 A three-round lightweight bout between Jake Lindsey and Jon Tuck is the latest addition to June’s UFC Fight Night 42: Henderson vs. Khabilov fight card. It’s a fight pitting a new UFC fighter against a two-fight veteran and should be fairly competitive, but based on his experience in the Octagon and some of the hype he’s had in the past I think Tuck will be a slight favorite going into this contest. Claudio Henrique da Silva vs. Richard Walsh, UFC Fight Night 43 A welterweight bout between Claudio Henrique da Silva and Richard Walsh was added to UFC Fight Night 43: Marquardt vs. Te Huna. It should be a competitive fight between two grappling-based fighters, but based on the hometown edge as well as a conditioning advantage I have to favor Walsh slightly here and expect him to grind out a decision win. Luke Zachrich vs. Guilherme Vasconcelos, UFC 175 A middleweight match between Luke Zachrich and Guilherme Vasconcelos is the latest addition to July’s UFC 175 card. This looks like a throwaway fight between Zachrich, one of the lowest-ranked middleweights in the UFC, and Vasconcelos, who is a TUF Brazil 3 veteran. I expect Vasconcelos to be the favorite here, and he will probably win this fight. Alexis Dufresne vs. Sarah Moras, TUF 19 Finale A three-round women’s bantamweight bout between Alexis Dufresne and Sarah Moras has been added to the TUF 19 Finale. This is a very fair fight on paper between two young and improving women’s fighters and I expect it to be very competitive when it goes down. It’s a close fight and I think it will be close to a Pick ’em when the lines opened. Josh Thomson vs. Michael Johnson, UFC on FOX 12 And finally, the crown jewel of the latest batch of UFC fight announcements is a three-round lightweight matchup between former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson and up-and-comer Michael Johnson. It’s a fight between two top-10 ranked lightweight fighters, and the winner will step one inch closer to a UFC title shot. This is a fun fight on paper but based on the styles I have to favor the veteran Thomson here as he’s a far superior grappler to Johnson, who has been tapped out numerous times in his career. However, the standup should be close as Johnson has nice boxing and Thomson solid kickboxing, so if Thomson can’t get the takedown things could get interesting. Look for Thomson to be about 2-to-1 for this fight, with Johnson being a small underdog.
