World Series of Fighting has come under fire lately from former welterweight champion Steve Carl, and it seems like everyone wants to pile on the promotion. However, there’s at least one positive development for the company; they don’t have Edgar Garcia and Hector Urbina as the opening bout on their card this weekend. WSOF 15 airs on NBC Sports Network this Saturday night, going head-to-head with both Bellator 131 and UFC 180, so it will be interesting to see what attention, if any, is paid to the card. If this was a Saturday afternoon offering — like the event that aired on NBC earlier in the year — it would put the promotion in a better place to succeed, but it seems like WSOF is stuck with what the network wants, and that’s Saturday evening programming. They’ve put together a solid card, as former UFC middleweight title challenger Yushin Okami looks to wrest away the WSOF 185lb title from incumbent David Branch. A pair of strong grapplers with a history of dull affairs should be competitive, and this fight almost seems so destined to be boring that it won’t be. The card has two additional title fights, as Justin Gaethje puts his lightweight title on the line against Melvin Guillard, and Jessica Aguilar faces Brazilian import Kalindra Faria. Kicking off the main card is another former UFC title challenger, as Jorge ‘Macaco’ Patino takes on Eric Reynolds. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for the WSOF 15 main card today at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– WSOF Middleweight Title Yushin Okami -305 David Branch +225 WSOF Lightweight Title Justin Gaethje -165 Melvin Guillard +125 WSOF Women’s Strawweight Title Jessica Aguilar -385 Kalindra Faria +265 Jorge Patino -175 Eric Reynolds +135 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: Like most WSOF cards, I expect to see some inflated favorites here by the time the public gets through with the lines. Okami should beat Branch, but it’s so hard to trust his chin at this point, and Branch has long been an underrated fighter. In terms of technical skills, Okami is better everywhere, but his physical abilities are in decline and it’s hard to tell once they’ve gone too far. The problem for Branch is that his style isn’t particularly suited to exploiting Okami’s chin. Gaethje’s striking defense, in a word, during his title defense against Nick Newell: worrying. If he gets hit by Guillard like he did by Newell, he won’t have a belt for long. Guillard can get passive at times against other dangerous strikers, and that could be an issue here, as could his takedown defense, but he’s dangerous enough to kep me away from betting Gaethje. If the line climbs, he may even be worth a flier. I really haven’t done much research on Kalindra Faria, but I’m a firm believer that Jessica Aguilar is not the best 115lb fighter in the world, and may not even be top 5. She’s a fighter without finishing ability against good opponents, and that means she’ll have to consistently win 5-round decisions (as long as WSOF books her legitimate challenges). It’s likely Aguilar wins a decision here (or perhaps finds a late stoppage because Faria has had some documented issues in preparation for this bout), but she’s not a fighter I’m interested in betting. This fight has a similar breakdown to Okami/Branch. Patino is better everywhere, but he’s 41 and difficult to trust coming off of a devastating KO to Luis Palomino. If age hasn’t completely caught up to him, ‘Macaco’ should look good and get a win. Again, is he someone I want to trust with my money? Not really.
