The co-main event of UFC Fight Night 48 is a three-round welterweight bout between Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley and Dong Hyun “Stun Gun” Kim. The current betting line for the fight at Several Bookmakers lists Woodley as a -175 favorite (bet $175 to win $100) while Kim is a +155 underdog (bet $100 to win $155). The current. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas originally opened up Woodley at -135 and Kim at -105, and so far there’s been action on the favorite Woodley. This is a competitive fight for sure but I think Kim has several advantages in the bout and I believe he’s going to come through as the underdog. Here’s why. Woodley (13-3) is one of the top contenders in the UFC welterweight division. The 32-year-old American has excellent wrestling and has brutal knockout power in his fists, and is so far 3-2 in the UFC with wins over Carlos Condit, Josh Koscheck and Jay Hieron and losses to Jake Shields and Rory MacDonald. Woodley is coming off of the loss to MacDonald which was extremely disappointing as he didn’t do much in the fight, but if he can bounce back against Kim he will re-emerge as a contender. With his skillset he has the ability to defeat Kim, and the betting public thinks he can control the bout, but he will have to be careful in this fight as Kim is a dangerous striker himself and could very well pull off the upset if he finds Woodley’s chin or if he follows MacDonald’s gameplan of pressuring Woodley against the fence and rendering him useless. Kim (19-2-1, 1 NC) is emerging as a dark horse contender at 170lbs in the UFC. The 32-year-old South Korean is on a four-fight win streak with wins over John Hathaway, Erick Silva, Paulo Thiago and Siyar Bahadurzada, all of which were dominant wins in his way. Kim’s always been known for his stifling ground game, but he’s improved his striking attack over the years and has become extremely aggressive as of late. He is trying to get a title shot in the UFC and he changed his style on purpose to do so. His striking defence is lacking now, but his newfound aggressiveness has earned him $100,000 in post-fight bonuses his last two fights, so not all is lost. Kim has been knocked out before and if he keeps up his lack of defence it could happen again, but his aggression could help him if he picks up an exciting win this weekend over Woodley, one that could very well earn him a No. 1 contender’s bout. Although Woodley is a solid wrestler, Kim has a judo background and should be able to thwart Woodley’s takedown attempts and keep this fight on the feet. Both men possess knockout power and both men have been knocked out before, so anything can happen, but I believe Kim’s newfound aggression will be beneficial to him as I think he can pressure Woodley and make him backpedal, which as we saw in the MacDonald fight is a problem for T-Wood. I don’t think this fight is going the full 15 minutes, but with Kim’s wild style and unique strikes I think he can score the KO blow and blow past Woodley with a huge statement victory to up his stock in the UFC welterweight division. At +155, I see value in Kim and I’m taking a shot at him to get the victory in China. I think he should actually be a slight favorite here so at the odds it’s a no brainer for me to take a stab at him to pull off the upset and move up the ladder at 170lbs.
