UFC Fight Night 89: MacDonald vs Thompson Date: June 18, 2016 Arena: The Arena at TD Place City: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for the first time in promotional history with UFC Fight Night 89: MacDonald vs Thompson. The 13-fight card kicks off with the UFC Fight Pass prelims at 6:45pm ET, with televised prelims to follow on FOX Sports 1 at 8:30pm ET and the main card getting going at 10:30pm ET. If interested in wagering on this parlay, or any bouts for this fight card, all betting lines are currently made available at Several Bookmakerss. Here is my parlay: Lightweight bout: Olivier Aubin-Mercier (-400) vs Thibault Gouti (+325) Gabe’s Thoughts: I believe Aubin-Mercier has a massive edge in grappling headed into this 155-pound contest and I see him using it to take the fight to the mat, where he will then take Gouti’s back and eventually sink in a rear naked choke to earn the tap. Gouti’s Octagon debut in his last outing against Teamu Packalen had the same result and Aubin-Mercier is a much better grappler than Packalen and is more effecient in taking the backs of his opponents. If Gouti is to stand a chance at getting his hand raised in this match-up, he needs to be able to keep the fight standing and I don’t think he will find success in doing so. I expect the French-Canadian to make quick work of the Italian and return to the win column in impressive fashion, following a unanimous decision loss to Carlos Diego Ferreira in his most recent outing inside the Octagon. Gabe’s Call: Aubin-Mercier by Submission (rear naked choke, 2:07 round 1) Women’s Strawweight bout: Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (+165) vs Randa Markos (-185) Gabe’s Thoughts: Markos is coming off a sour unanimous decision loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz and aims to return to the win column in impressive fashion. I expect to see the best Randa Marko we have yet to see thus far inside of the Octagon. I see her using her superior grappling to outwrestle and smother Jones-Lybarger from bell to bell for 15-minutes of action to pick up a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards. I would not be surprised to see improved cardio from her and see her take control of the third round as well, considering she has been known to fade in the third round of her bouts. Gabe’s Call: Markos by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Gabe’s Recommended Parlays: 1) Aubin-Mercier (-400) and Markos (-185) at -109 for 3.95u to win 3.65u and 2) Aubin-Mercier/Gouti Under 2.5 rounds (-145) and Jones-Lybarger/Markos Over 2.5 rounds (-325) at +120 for 2.15u to win 2.6u
