UFC Fight Night 80 Date: September 10, 2015 Arena: The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan City: Las Vegas, NV The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be live from Las Vegas, NV on Thursday, December 10th, 2015 with UFC Fight Night 80: Namajunas vs Van Zant. The stacked 11-fight card kicks off a three-event UFC weekend and will be live entirely on UFC Fight Pass, with the main card getting going 10pm ET and preliminary action preciding it at 6:45pm ET. If interested in wagering on any plays for this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. My main card Over/Under Totals for UFC Fight Night 80 are: Women’s Strawweight bout: “12 Gauge” Paige VanZant (-185) vs “Thug” Rose Namajunas (+160) Gabe’s Thoughts: I think Namajunas should be a slight betting favorite heading into this contest, so I think there is value in her at her current underdog price of +160. However, I think there is more value in the Total of Under 3.5 rounds at +110. I think the most likely outcome to this five round main event contest is Namajunas by submission and the second most likely outcome is VanZant by T/KO. I think taking the Under is a safer play than taking Namajunas straight up, because while I favor her to finish the fight, we will also be in the clear in case VanZant wins by T/KO, which is the popular prediction amongst the public and MMA media of how this women’s strawweight contest will end. I think “Thug” is the superior striker and grappler of the two. I see VanZant getting too aggressive during a grappling exchange, making a mistake and getting caught in a submission for her first Octagon defeat. Gabe’s Call: Namajunas by Submission (armbar, 3:34 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Under 3.5 rounds (+110) 3u to win 3.3u Lightweight bout: Cody Pfister (+800) vs Sage Northcutt (-1250) Gabe’s Thoughts: “The Pfist” made his promotional debut against James Moontasri and lost the bout via second round rear naked choke submission. In his next outing inside the Octagon, he took on the Cuban, Yosdenis Cedeno, and defeated him via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three rounds of action. “The Pink Panther” lacked the wrestling skills to compete with Pfister and went down as a heavy favorite and eventually received his walking papers from the promotion. Now with his first UFC win under his belt, Pfister aims to make it two in a row by scoring arguably the biggest upset in UFC history by taking out Northcutt. “Super” is undefeated as a pro at 6-0 and was impressive in his promotional debut just two months ago, dispatching and finishing the previously unfinished Francisco Trevino via TKO in under a minute of action. In a quick return to action, he is eager to put on another show and record another highlight-reel finish. I expect he will do just that and I believe he will get the job done in under a round and a half, which makes me love the Total of Under 1.5 rounds at -105 for a play, especially considering that I think the line should be -280. Pfister is a small lightweight who could easily be competing at 145-pounds and potentially 135-pounds. Northcutt used to compete at welterweight and believes he will return to that weight class after a few more fights at lightweight. He will have a massive size advantage over Pfister, not to mention an equally large advantage in striking. I see him successfully keeping this fight on the feet and putting Pfister away, probably before “The Pfist” even gets a chance to attempt a single takedown. Gabe’s Call: Northcutt by T/KO (strikes, 0:47 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Under 1.5 rounds (-105) 5.25u to win 5u
