Last week here at MMAOddsBreaker, we opened the betting odds for the main card of the UFC’s first event in Salt Lake City, Fight Night 92. Today, the focus turns to the six-fight undercard which features three UFC newcomers, and a pair of the more grizzled veterans on the UFC roster. Headlining the preliminary portion of the card, Utah native Court McGee will be looking to bounce back from the first stoppage loss of his career as he takes on Dominique Steele. The other notable bout is between Tatsuya Kawajiri and Cub Swanson. Both men are looking to prove the they are still relevant in the featherweight division, as Swanson just picked up his first win since 2014, and Kawajiri was just bested handily by Dennis Bermudez in his last appearance. Other bouts on the undercard include: a battle between European heavyweights Viktor Pesta and Marcin Tybura, American heavyweights Chase Sherman and Justin Ledet will oppose each other in their UFC debuts, budding social media star Teruto Ishihara faces TUF Latin America 2 veteran Horacio Gutierrez, and fresh off his dominant UFC debut David Teymur welcomes Jason Novelli to the Octagon. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting odds for the six preliminary bouts on UFC Fight Night 92 today at Several Bookmakers. ——————– MAIN CARD (Fox Sports 1, 10pm ET)
——————– PRELIMINARY CARD (Fox Sports 1, 8pm ET)
——————– PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7pm ET)
——————– Brad’s Analysis: Court McGee getting knocked out really changed my perspective of him. His durability used to be one of his strongest assets aside from his pace, and now that becomes a huge question mark. Steele isn’t the biggest threat to exploit that, but he could still score some takedowns against McGee to make this fight competitive. Eventually I think McGee’s pace is still there, and it will hold up in rounds two and three allowing him to take a decision in front of the home crowd. Neither Viktor Pesta or Marcin Tybura has impressed in the UFC to this point. Tybura has a good ground game, but doesn’t have the wrestling to get fights to the mat at this level. If there’s one thing Pesta has shown, it’s decent takedown defense, so perhaps he can stuff takedowns until Tybura tires and then he can take over. It’s very difficult to trust either of these fighters based on their recent performances however, so I’ll be passing. It’s rare to be impressed by a 37-year-old UFC newcomer who went to a split decision against Yosdenis Cedeno in his last outing, but that’s where I find myself with Jason Novelli. He’s a long, rangy striker who should match up well against David Teymur, especially given his four inch height and reach advantages. Teymur could very well clip him with a big shot, but I think Novelli will be the one controlling the distance and pace of this fight, which should lead to him winning rounds. I’ll take a shot on the dog here given the price. Teruto Ishihara is fun to watch, and fun to follow on twitter. He’s also moved a good portion of his training to Team Alpha Male, which makes me feel much better backing him when fighting in the US. It also makes me feel good backing him against a a TUF Latin America vet who he has a far more well-rounded striking game than, and doesn’t pose much of a threat anywhere else. The price is a bit steep so I’ll pass for a bet, but I’m expecting an impressive performance from Ishihara. Cub Swanson just defeated a guy with a similar skillset to Tatsuya Kawajiri, but Hacran Dias fought to his own detriment in that bout, trying to win a striking battle against Swanson. Kawajiri will come out looking for takedowns at every opportunity. Swanson has never had great takedown defense, and Kawajiri is so relentless with his attempts that I’d be shocked if he doesn’t get Swanson down a few times in this fight. What will determine the winner is how effectively Swanson can use his footwork to keep distance, and if he can land the big shots he landed against Dias. I’m not willing to lay the price assuming he can, even though that’s the most likely scenario. Kawajiri by Decision could be a prop with some decent value here as well. If either of these fighters is a big underdog, it’s worth a shot. Debuting heavyweights are some of the most unreliable fighters around, and two debuting heavyweights who have generally ran through all of their opposition raise a million question marks should this fight get out of the first couple minutes. Even though Sherman has more of the hype, I don’t see much in the way of clear advantages for him in this bout. It looks like a coinflip to me.