UFC on FOX 18 Date: January 30, 2016 Arena: Prudential Center City: Newark, NJ The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Newark, NJ for the seventh time in promotional history with UFC on FOX 18: Johnson vs Bader. The action packed 13-fight card kicks off at 8pm ET on FOX, with preliminary action preceding it on FOX Sports 1 at 5pm ET and Fight Pass at 3:30pm ET. If interested in wagering on any plays for this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Here are my plays: Bantamweight bout: Iuri Alcantara (+145) vs Jimmie Rivera (-165) Gabe’s Thoughts: From top to bottom, Rivera is my favorite play on this entire fight card. I see him getting the better of Alcantara on the feet and on the mat. I think it is 50/50 whether he finds a finish or takes it on the scorecards, but I feel like this is Rivera’s fight to lose. I see this as being a breakout performance for him, and I believe he will crack the division’s Top 15 rankings with a win. I see him hurting Alcantara with his hands in this contest and mixing things up with his wrestling. I believe he can either outstrike or outwrestle Alcantara, and I expect he will do both. I expect “El Terror” to come away with a big win in front of his hometown crowd, and I think he should be a -350 betting favorite heading into the contest, so I see a lot of value in him at his current offering price of -165. Gabe’s Call: Rivera by T/KO (punches, 3:24 round 3) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Rivera (-165) 8.25u to win 5u Welterweight bout: Matt Dwyer (+120) vs Randy Brown (-130) Gabe’s Thoughts: I think this is a match-up that sylistically favors Brown and I expect him to come out with an impressive victory, likely via knockout. Brown has ridiculous reach and packs power, so I think if you combine that with Dwyer’s atrocious defense on the feet, it is a recipe for disaster. I expect Brown to outstrike Dwyer in this 170-pound contest and most likely put him away inside of the very first round of action. However, if Dwyer’s chin holds up as it did in his last outing against Alan Jouban, I think Brown can still walk away with the win on the judges’ scorecards. He is one fighter making a promotional debut who I don’t really expect Octagon jitters to play a factor with. I think he will be cool, calm, collected and ready to leave it all inside the Octagon. I think he should be a -230 betting favorite heading into this welterweight affair, so at his current asking price of -130, I favor him for a wager. Gabe’s Call: Brown by T/KO (punches, 2:28 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Brown (-130) 3.9to win 3u
