UFC on ESPN+ 17 took place Saturday, September 21, 2019 in Mexico City, Mexico. The card was headlined by a featherweight fight between the highlight reel Yair Rodriguez and veteran Jeremy Stephens.
Closing odds are courtesy of Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap of each of those fights.
Favorites that Won
In a women’s 140 pound catchweight contest, Irene Aldana punished Vanessa Melo for missing weight by destroying her in all three rounds to take a one-sided unanimous decision victory. Aldana closed a massive -550 betting favorite with Melo closing +400.
Jose Quinonez utilized his well-rounded skill-set to win all three rounds against an overmatched Carlos Huachin, as Quinonez easily took a unanimous decision. Quinonez lived up to his -160 betting favorite hype while Huachin was a +140 dog.
Kyle Nelson was an extremely slight -115 favorite against -105 dog Marco Polo Reyes, but Nelson made good use of his power, connecting with heavy shots that staggered Reyes against the fence. Peterson swarmed Reyes and the referee stopped the fight just 96 seconds into the first round.
In a flyweight fight, Sergio Pettis played it save, staying on his bicycle and avoiding the knockout power of Tyson Nam for three rounds, outpointing Nam to take a unanimous decision victory. Pettis proved his -300 favorite status true while Nam closed +240.
Paul Craig landed the superior strikes on the feet, stunning Vinicius Moreira and eventually setting up a first round rear naked choke submission victory for the Scottish fighter. Craig closed -120 while Moreira was +100.
Claudio Puelles couldn’t secure the finish, bu he got the next best thing, smashing Marcos Rosa Mariano over the course of three rounds for the most lopsided decision victory on the card. Puelles easily proved his -400 favorite status while Mariano was overwhelmed as a +300 dog.
Underdogs that Won
In the co-main event of the evening, Carla Esparza survived a scary armbar from Alexa Grasso to walk away with a majority decision. Esparza won despite being a +135 underdog while Grasso was a -155 favorite.
In the best finish of the night, Steven Peterson threw a perfectly-timed spinning back fist to counter Martin Bravo’s spinning back fist, catching Bravo on the chin and knocking him out cold. Peterson was victorious as a +125 underdog with Bravo losing as a -145 favorite.
Angela Hill was clearly the better striker in her bout against Ariane Carnelossi, connecting on swift combinations and mixing in elbows and knees well. She eventually scored a brutal elbow in the third round that forced the cageside physician to stop the fight. Carnelossi was a -120 favorite with the comeback on Hill +100.
Sijara Eubanks started strong against Bethe Correia but she ran out of steam as Correia won rounds two and three to steal a shocking decision as the biggest underdog winner on the card. Correia closed as a +250 underdog while Eubanks failed to get the job done as a -300 favorite.
Fights to End in a Draw
In a main card flyweight contest, Brandon Moreno and the debuting Askar Askarov fought to a majority draw in an entertaining scrap, although many thought Moreno had done enough to get his hand raised. Askarov closed the -155 favorite with the comeback on Moreno +135
Fights to End in a No Contest
In the main event of the evening, Yair Rodriguez landed a grazing shot to Jeremy Stephens’ eye in an opening exchange and Stephens was unable to continue. The bout was ruled a no contest after just 15 seconds of action. Rodriguez closed a -125 favorite with Stephens closing a +105 dog.
