UFC on FUEL TV 6: November 10, 2012 CotaiArena, Cotai, Macao UFC Bantamweight Contender Takeya Mizugaki (-405) Profile: Takeya Mizugaki (15-7-2) has seen some relative success in the WEC and the UFC, unlike many other foreign competitors, but he has yet to string two wins in a row together inside the American cage. For some, a 4-5 record would send them packing, but Mizugaki is an extremely entertaining fighter when he has another guy willing to mix it up in the cage across from him, so this has extended his lifespan. Mizugaki is as complete a fighter that can come out of Japan in 2012, and his middlesome record is somewhat deceiving considering his losses have come against some of the top fighters in the sport. The 28-year-old Japanese fighter has also dropped two in a row only once during his career and will try to prevent that from happening again in his next bout. UFC Bantamweight Contender Jeff Hougland (+305) Profile: MMA veteran Jeff Hougland (10-5) had a rough start to his career. Fighting up two weight classes at lightweight, the 34-year-old began his career with a 1-4 record. He then made the wise decision to drop to featherweight and eventually bantamweight,where he would tally a nine-fight winning streak and eventually help land him in the UFC. Hougland would win his debut in the big show at UFC 132 against Donny Walker before losing his next bout to Yves Jabouin back in May at UFC on FUEL TV 6: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier. Finally in a good spot in his career, Hougland has developed into more than just the BJJ ace he was earlier in his career, and he has a good size advantage on some of the smaller bantamweights and needs to utilize his length more. Opening UFC on FUEL TV 6 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Mizugaki a huge -405 favorite (bet $405 to win $100) while Hougland opened as a +305 underdog (bet $185 to win $305) according to the MMA odds. This is a terrible spot for Hougland, who had performed very well leading up to his loss to Jabouin back in May that ended his winning streak. He is not an elite fighter by any means, although he nearly got an opportunity to fight UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao earlier this year. An upset victory here would serve notice to the UFC that his winning streak was not a fluke, and he might be able to parlay that success into some bigger bouts. However, Mizugaki is also very experienced, and both of his two losses in the UFC came by unanimous decision to Chris Cariaso and Brian Bowles. Before joining the UFC, his previous three losses came in the WEC against Urijiah Faber, Scott Jorgensen and Miguel Torres. In other words, Mizugaki has fought some big names over the last few years and should be extra motivated to get back on track and put together a positive run of his own.
