Three UFC 152 Facebook preliminary bouts kick off the highly anticipated show coming to us live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada this Saturday starting at 6:45 p.m. (ET) leading up to four more prelims that will be televised on FX at 8 p.m. and the main card at 10 p.m. The trio of solid fights starting off the night on Facebook.com begins with Australian MMA vet Kyle Noke (19-6) making his welterweight debut against the young and talented Charlie Brenneman (15-4). The opening MMA odds saw Brenneman as a solid favorite at -225 (bet $225 to win $100) to Noke’s +175 (bet $100 to win $175), although early betting has come in on the underdog to push the line down a bit. Noke is making his first cut to 170 after fighting for a decade at middleweight, and both men have the ability to ruin each other’s night in the blink of an eye. Brenneman has KO power but usually grinds the fight out with his wrestling game. Meanwhile, Noke is well-rounded but has lost two in a row, so the weight cut could be a desperation move to revitalize his career. Next up is Canadian Mitch Gagnon (8-2), who steps into the cage in his native country to meet American Walel Watson (9-4). Although both combatants hold less than impressive records in the burgeoning UFC bantamweight division, they have lost to some of the better 135ers, including Bryan Caraway, T.J. Dillashaw and Yves Jabouin. It’s safe to say these guys have the pressure of a pink slip resting on their shoulders should they lose, which could lead to an exciting fight or a very reserved one. Gagnon opened as the underdog at +175 to Walel Watson’s -225. Headlining the Facebook prelims is Norwegian Simeon Thoresen (17-2-1) against UFC vet Seth Baczynski (16-6) with both fighters getting a chance to further themselves in the deep UFC welterweight division. Baczynski has seemed to hit his stride after a spotty start to his MMA career, taking the lower tier of the UFC’s welterweight division by storm, winning two of his last three fights by slick second-round submissions and coming off a fifth straight victory against Lance Benoist via split decision. However, Thoresen has a great ground game, with 15 of his 17 wins coming via submission, and he has won three in a row and is 8-1-1 in his past 10. One of these welterweights is going to see his winning streak end, with Baczynski opening as a slight favorite at -145 compared to Thoresen at +115.
