UFC Fight Night 52 Date: September 20, 2014 Arena: Saitama Super Arena City: Saitama, Japan UFC Fight Night 52 will be live from Japan late Friday night/early Saturday morning with a 12-fight card, including a six-fight main card that will stream live on UFC Fight Pass at 3:30am ET, with preliminary action getting going at 12:30am ET, also on UFC Fight Pass. Interested in wagering on these plays, or any other plays for this fight card, you may do so at Several Bookmakerss. My live dogs for UFC Fight Night 52 in Japan are: Flyweight bout: Jon “The Heat’ delos Reyes (+390) vs Kyoji Horiguchi (-590) Gabe’s Thoughts: At the moment, I slightly lean with Horiguchi to pick up the win in Japan. However, I think the current betting lines for his flyweight scrap are way off, as I feel delos Reyes has a good chance at winning this fight. I won’t argue that Horiguchi is the more well-rounded, superior mixed martial artist, but I believe delos Reyes is solid in his own right, and a tough out for just about anybody at 125-pounds. I could be off, but I think the betting odds for this fight should be close, so at +390, I definitely see a lot of value in the Guam native, and will be making a move on him for a value play, hopefully coming through with the biggest upset of the night. It may be worth noting that delos Reyes will be heading into his UFC flyweight debut with a two-inch reach advantage over his opponent. As far as my pick/lean goes, I may end up changing my mind, but for the moment, it’s the hometown favorite. Gabe’s Call: Horiguchi by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: delos Reyes (+390) 2u to win 7.8u Featherweight bout: Daniel Hooker (+135) vs Maximo Blanco (-175) Gabe’s Thoughts: I think Hooker should be a -180 favorite in this 145-pound contest, so I favor him for a big play at the current underdog odds of +135. I believe at this point in their careers, Hooker is the superior mixed martial artist and will manage to get the better of Blanco on the feet, which is where I see this fight playing out. Should Blanco choose to employ his wrestling and look for takedowns, I think Hooker will find success with his defense. If taken down, I expect him to be more active off his back than the Venezuelan would be from top. Bottom line, I feel as though Hooker wants it more and has more routes to victory. I could see him finishing Blanco with strikes or a submission, most likely a form of choke, and I could also see him taking a nod from the judges following hard fought 15-minutes of action. Regardless of how he gets his hand raised, I think Hooker’s height and reach advantage will play a factor in the outcome. If he is able to secure an impressive victory over the Venezuelan veteran, I think it will earn him a big fight for his next outing. This featherweight fight will be kicking things off for the UFC Fight Night 52 preliminary card, and I expect it to get the show going with some early fireworks. Gabe’s Call: Hooker by Submission (McKenzietine choke, 1:41 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Daniel Hooker (+135) 4.45u to win 6u
