Minnesota has become a regular stop on the RFA tour, and the promotion heads back there this Friday for RFA 32. As always, the card will air live on AXS TV, and the organization always features some names to keep an eye on. The main event features local fighter Melvin Blumer taking on one of the top prospects in the lighter divisions, Leandro Higo. Blumer has won six straight fights, and defeated Jeff Curran by first round TKO in his RFA debut. Higo hasn’t lost since April 2012, but has also only competed five times since then. He was one of the favorites to win TUF Brazil 4, but failed to advance deep into the tournament, and the UFC chose not to offer him a contract. A few more performances like his RFA debut could have them reconsidering that stance however. Another bout to keep an eye on is in the welterweight division. Former champion Ben Smith will be competing for the first time since dropping his belt to Gilbert Smith in June, and he’ll be facing the undefeated Craig Eckelberg. Eckelberg isn’t even two years into his pro MMA career, but has gone 5-0 with each win coming via stoppage. Smith will be by far the most talented fighter he’s faced, so it should prove a good test. Another former TUF competitor will be on RFA 32 as well. Dakota Cochrane will be moving back up to welterweight in his typical yo-yo fashion to take on Ben Neumann. All but one of Neumann’s victories have come via submission, while Cochrane has been tapped in 7 of his 9 losses. Depending on Cochrane’s motivation level, this could be the end of him even as a moderately recognizable regional fighter, or he may show why it looked like he was going to end up in the UFC on a couple of occasions. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for these top three RFA 32 fights today at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– MAIN CARD (AXS TV, 10pm ET) Leandro Higo -350 Melvin Blumer +250 Ben Smith -210 Craig Eckelberg +160 Dakota Cochrane -180 Ben Neumann +140 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: Even though Blumer ended up knocking out Jeff Curran in his last fight, I’m not even sure he meant to throw the “punch” that did it. After missing a punch, Blumer swung his arm back with a backfist and caught Curran to drop him. That was after he got dropped and almost finished… by Jeff Curran… with strikes. Blumer is a tough fighter, but he’s just outclassed here. Experience will be the biggest factor here. Things that have worked for Eckelberg up to this point in his career won’t work against Smith, and he’ll end up getting ground out across 15 minutes for a decision. I don’t trust Dakota Cochrane at this point, and I really don’t trust him against big fighters at welterweight who can shut down his wrestling. If Cochrane can’t do what he wants early in a fight, he generally doesn’t find much success, and I see that being the case here, with Neumann forcing Cochrane to quit sometime around the middle of the bout.
