The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back in Saitama, Japan this Saturday (September 26, 2015) for UFC Fight Night 75: Nelson vs Barnett. The 11-fight card will kick off with a preliminary bout on UFC Fight Pass at 7:30pm ET, continuing on FOX Sports 2 at 8pm ET and with the main card getting going at 10pm ET on FOX Sports 1. If interested in wagering on this parlay, or any bouts on this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Kicking things off for the UFC Fight Night 75 main card will be a featherweight contest between Japanese fighters Mizuto Hirota and Teruto Ishihara. The winner of the bout will become the Road to UFC: Japan tournament winner. Hirota opened as a -245 betting favorite in the bout, with Ishihara being the underdog at +175. Betting lines have since tightened up a bit and rest at a current -235/+195. Brazil’s Diego Brandao and Japan’s Katsunori Kikuno. This bout was moved from the preliminary card to the main card when bantamweights Kid Yamamoto and Matt Hobar each withdrew from their scheduled main card bout due to injuries. Brandao snapped a two-fight skid this past April with TKO (doctors stoppage) of Jimy Hettes and looked to make it two in a row against Kikuno. The Japanese veteran, on the other hand, is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Kevin Souza and will be looking to bounce back into the win column. This is a rare “winner vs loser” match-up and one fight fans don’t expect to go the full three round distance. The Brazilian opened as a -210 betting favorite in this bout, with the return on the underdog Kikuno being +160. Some action has since come in on Brandao, as current betting lines are -240/+200. Next up on the evening’s main card is a barn-burner in the UFC’s bantamweight division, featuring veterans George Roop and Takeya Mizugaki going to war in an effort to return to the win column following their latest defeats. Roop last saw action over a year ago, suffering a first round upset knockout loss at the hands of promotional newcomer Rob Font. Mizugaki looks to bounce back from back to back losses against Dominick Cruz and Aljamain Sterling, respectively. Many fight fans, including myself, look forward to Roop vs Mizugaki more than any other bout on this UFC fight card in Saitama. Win or lose, these are 135-pounders who deliver every time they step foot inside the Octagon. Roop opened as the betting underdog in this match-up at +175, with Mizugaki being favored to win at -245. Betting lines have since slightly tightened up and sit at a current +195/-235. The following bout on the UFC Fight Night 75 main card will be a flyweight contest in the form of Chico Camus vs Kyoji Horiguchi. Both 125-pounders are eager to get back in the win column after coming up short in their most recent outings, with Camus dropping a unanimous decision to Henry Cejudo and Horiguchi being submitted by UFC 125-pound champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in his bid for the gold. Camus opened as a +285 underdog against Horiguchi in this contest, who was favored to win at -405. The betting lines have since tightened up and sit at a current +310/-370. The co-main event of the evening comes in the middleweight division and sees former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi take on The Ultimate Fighter season 18 finalist Uriah Hall. “Prime Time” took this fight on somewhat of a short notice, when Mousasi’s original scheduled opponent Roan Carneiro withdrew from the bout due to injury. “The Armenian Assassin” currently enjoys a two-fight winning streak inside the Octagon, with wins over Dan Henderson and Costa Phillipou, respectively. “Prime Time” bounced back into the win column last month with a first round knockout of promotional newcomer Oluwale Bamgbose and now aims to make it two in a row against Mousasi, who is the biggest Octagon test of the TUF 18 veteran’s UFC career. Mousasi has competed in Japan throughout his career and is a favorite amongst Japanese fans, so he will have somewhat of a hometown advantage heading into this contest. It will be Hall’s first time fighting so far away from home, and he finds himself playing the role of the massive underdog for the first time in his UFC career. Usually, it is the other way around. The Armenian opened as a -350 betting favorite over Hall, who opened as a +250 underdog. The public has since backed Mousasi, making current betting lines -550/+425. The main event of the evening will be a heavyweight contest scheduled for five rounds between two fan favorites veterans of the division, as “The Warmaster” Josh Barnett takes on Roy “Big Country” Nelson. Barnett is coming off the longest layoff of his career, following a first round knockout loss against Travis Browne, and looks to get back on track on his hunt for the title. “Big Country” looks to snap a two-fight skid, which included a second round knockout defeat against Mark Hunt and a unanimous decision loss to Alistair Overeem, respectively. He believes that in the heavyweight division, even he is still a win or two away from being in the title picture. Similar to Mousasi, Barnett is a favorite amongst Japanese fans and will be enjoying somewhat of home advantage heading into this main event showdown. Also much like Mousasi, he loves to perform for the Japanese fans. Barnett opened as a -210 betting favorite over Nelson in this five round main event bout, with Nelson being a +160 underdog. The public has been in support of Barnett, as current betting lines are -310/+255.
