UFC Fight Night 90: dos Anjos vs Alvarez Date: July 7, 2016 Arena: MGM Grand Garden Arena City: Las Vegas, NV The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back in Las Vegas on Thursday, July 7th with UFC Fight Night 90: dos Anjos vs Alvarez. The 12-fight card airs entirely on UFC Fight Pass, with preliminary action kicking off 6:30pm ET, with main card action getting underway at 10pm ET. If interested in wagering on these plays, or any plays for this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Here are my live dogs: Lightweight title bout: Rafael dos Anjos (-370) vs Eddie Alvarez (+310) Gabe’s Thoughts: I think this 155-pound title fightis a lot closer than the betting odds currently indiciate. I think dos Anjos should be a -150 betting favorite heading into this bout, so at these odds, I think Alvarez holds a ton of value and is worth of a wager. I would not fault anybody for going bigger on this play than I am myself. I could really see this fight playing out so many different ways, several of those which include Alvarez getting his hand raised, so there’s no way I could justify taking dos Anjos at -370. I do believe this is a “dog or pass” situation and I see too much value in the dog to pass it up. Gabe’s Call: Alvarez by Split Decision (46-49, 48-47, 48-47) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Alvarez (+310) 2.5u to win 7.75u Lightweight bout: John Makdessi (-165) vs Mehdi Baghdad (+145) Gabe’s Thoughts: This is a “striker vs striker” match-up in the UFC’s lightweight division. Both 155-pounders will be looking to get into the win column in this potential “loser goes home” scrap, with Makdessi coming off a split decision loss to Yancy Medeiros and Baghdad coming off a first round rear naked choke defeat against Chris Wade. I think Baghdad will land the more significant strikes in this contest, and while Makdessi may outland him in volume, I think the significant in strikes and damage will be the difference should the fight hits the judges’ scorecards for a decision. On top of that, I think Baghdad is the fighter more likely to secure a T/KO finish. I think he is the stronger fighter of the two, as well as the fighter with the better chin. He also has a grappling advantage, but I don’t expect this fight to hit the mat. I think he either catches Makdessi and puts him away or takes this on the judges’ scorecards. Gabe’s Call: Baghdad by T/KO (punches, 4:11 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Baghdad (+145) 3.45u to win 5u
