Two new fights were announced by the UFC on Wednesday, and for today’s MMA Odds and Ends I’ll give my thoughts on both. Aleksandra Albu vs. Izabela Badurek, UFC Fight Night 64 A women’s strawweight bout between UFC newcomers Aleksandra Albu and Izabela Badurek has been added to UFC Fight Night 64, which takes place April 11 at Krakow Arena in Krakow, Poland. This fight will likely take place on the preliminary card. Albu has only one MMA fight while Badurek has seven fights including five wins. I really don’t know much about either of these fighters because there simply isn’t much tape available on either, but it’s clear they were both signed because they are good-looking women and probably not as much for their fighting skills. I’m not saying they aren’t good fighters, but looking at their records other women should have been signed before these two. But since they are both marketable, it makes sense the UFC signed them. I have no idea who wins this fight and I’m expecting a close line between these two unknown fighters. Josh Sampo vs. Justin Scoggins, UFC 187 A flyweight matchup between Josh Sampo and Justin Scoggins has been added to UFC 187, which takes place May 23 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be a preliminary-card bout. Both men are coming off of two losses and so this will be a must-win fight for both men. Sampo lost a decision to Zach Makovsky and was submitted by Patrick Holohan, while for Scoggins he lost a decision to Dustin Ortiz and then was submitted by John Moraga. So both men are entering this fight coming off of similar situations. I like Sampo, but Scoggins is still someone I’m high on even despite his recent losses and I really do believe he’ll bounce back in this fight, perhaps even scoring a stoppage. I know a lot of people have soured on Scoggins after his recent losses but I still believe in his potential and think he can still be a title contender one day. The line should be relatively close for this one, but Scoggins will definitely be favored — but I doubt he’ll be favored as highly as he was against Moraga after seeing how that fight played out. Rose Namajunas vs. Nina Ansaroff, UFC 187 The women’s strawweight fight between Rose Namajunas and Nina Ansaroff, which was reported to take place at UFC Fight Night 68, has been moved to UFC 187.
