It seems that the consensus about UFC Fight Night 92 is the card looks pretty dreadful on paper. So naturally, MMA fans are probably in store for the card of the year when the Octagon rolls into Salt Lake City. Looking down the main card of the event, there are certainly fighters capable of delivering exciting performances, but aside from that, UFC Fight Night 92 will mostly serve to reaffirm prospect status, or introduce us to new prospects. Nowhere is that more evident than in the main event. The UFC really thinks they have something special in Yair Rodriguez. Given his performances (and improvement) since coming off of TUF Latin America, it’s hard to argue. His last outing was particularly impressive, as he landed a jumping switch kick to knock out Andre Fili. That fight announced him as not just a fighter to keep an eye on in the future, but one who could be relevant to the title picture very shortly. Rodriguez opened a -350 favorite (bet $350 to win $100) over Alex Caceres in the main event, and the line has stayed pretty steady. The Mexican is now -300, while Caceres sits at the same +250 (bet $100 to win $250) that he opened at. Caceres is one of several fighters who has gone up in weight lately and found success, as he has two wins since returning to the featherweight division. The co-main event at UFC Fight Night 92 should be an all-action affair, as Dennis Bermudez takes on Rony Jason. The last time Bermudez fought a Brazilian was in the TUF 14 Finale against Diego Brandao, and that turned into an incredible bout. Bermudez has gone on to have several spectacular fights, and Jason is a good source of action himself, so this one shapes up well. In the middleweight division, 12th ranked Thales Leites looks to keep the surging Chris Camozzi out of the top 15. These two fighters seem to be moving in opposite directions, as Camozzi has won three straight, while Leites has lost two in a row, albeit to superior competition. Rounding out the main card, Argentinian slugger Santiago Ponzinibbio faces Zak Cummings, Trevor Smith welcomes Joseph Gigliotti to the UFC, and Maryna Moroz faces the debuting Danielle Taylor. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting odds for the remaining five main card fights today at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– MAIN CARD (Fox Sports 1, 10pm ET)
——————– Brad’s Analysis: Dennis Bermudez should be able to control this fight with his wrestling, but there’s definite danger no matter where the fight takes place. On the feet, Jason has the ability to land a big strike to hurt Bermudez, and could jump on a sub afterwards, or if Bermudez is sloppy in one of his takedown attempts, he could be running into a sub. I still have to favor Bermudez for the pick because he’s going to be the fighter winning rounds, but I’m not too keen to bet it. Thales Leites might be coming towards the end of his career, but his trump card against Chris Camozzi is still his BJJ. On the feet, Camozzi works at such a high pace that he could outpoint Leites, so if Leites doesn’t pursue the ground game like he should we could see an upset. Camozzi’s takedown defense still isn’t where it needs to be to stop the better wrestlers consistently, and even though Leites has the BJJ base, his wrestling is solid enough to get this on the mat on multiple occasions. The last time Santiago Ponzinibbio faced a southpaw wrestler was his UFC debut and he struggled with Ryan Laflare. Zak Cummings isn’t as slick as Laflare with his striking or wrestling, but he’s nearly as effective. The difference here is how much Ponzinibbio has grown with his takedown defense and ability to get back up. I think that will allow Ponzinibbio to keep this fight upright where he’ll be able to outpoint Cummings. However, if this line creeps up towards 2-to-1 for Cummings, I may have to take a shot on a fighter who has made me a decent chunk of change in the past. I haven’t had a chance to check out Danielle Taylor yet, so I don’t have much to add to this fight yet, but Maryna Moroz at -300 against anyone seems wrong.