TUF 19 Finale Date: July 6, 2014 Arena: Mandalay Bay Events Center City: Las Vegas, NV The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale will be live tonight (Saturday, July 6th) with 11 scheduled bouts, including a six fight main card that will be live on FOX Sports 1 at 9pm ET, with preliminary action kicking off on FOX Sports 1 at 7pm ET. If interested in wagering on these preliminary bouts, or any others on this fight card, these lines will be made available to you at Several Bookmakerss. Here are my plays for The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale preliminary card on FOX Sports 1… Bantamweight: Jumabieke Tuerxun (+110) vs Leandro Issa (-130) Gabe’s Thoughts: I think the Brazilian is going to use his superior Jiu-Jitsu to dominate this fight, either towards a submission finish or a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards. Tuerxun is one of the most over rated fighters with a padded record to get signed to the UFC and he was exposed in his promotional debut by Mark Eddiva, and I feel the same story will repeat itself in this match-up, as he gets prepared to make his debut in the bantamweight division. They are both grapplers, but Issa is the better grappler, so outside of some sort of fluke, or major improvements in Tuerxun’s game, I don’t see how Issa losses this fight; especially a hungry and motivated Issa who is eager to get back to win column. Training out of Evolve MMA in Singapore, he may also want to showcase his newfound striking skills, and I think he will have an advantage in that department, as well, so I would not be surprised to see him keep things on the feet and opt to outstrike Tuerxun. He has the superior cardio, so even in such a situation where he is choosing to keep things on the feet, I think he will look to take the fight to the mat when he notices Tuerxun gassing, and will look to finish him there. Gabe’s Call: Issa by Submission (rear naked choke, 4:07 round 2) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Issa (-130) 3.9u to win 3u Light heavyweight bout: Dan Spohn (-240) vs Patrick Walsh (+200) Gabe’s Thoughts: This is a fight between a pair of semi-finalists from season 19 of The Ultimate Fighter, with Spohn being a competitor for Team Penn and Walsh being on Team Edgar. Spohn was TKO’d in his semi-finals match-up by finalist Matt Van Buren, while Walsh was oupointed by finalist Corey Anderson via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. Walsh is the better wrestler in this fight, but I think Spohn is better everywhere else. I feel his superior striking will play the difference in this match-up, either towards a decision nod from the judges or a possibly knockout, as he does pack a ton of power in his hands. Gabe’s Call: Spohn by KO (punch, 2:02 round1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Spohn (-240) 2.4u to win 1u Women’s Bantamweight bout: Alexis Dufresne (-210) vs Sarah Moras (+175) Gabe’s Thoughts: Simply put, I slightly favor Moras to win this fight, so at +175, I will be making a small value play. Gabe’s Call: Moras by Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Moras (+175) 1u to win 1.75u
