This Saturday (November 19, 2016), the UFC will begin the task of trying to follow up on UFC 205. The approach is to put two events on the same day, and hope the resulting fights can satiate the appetites of fight fans. The first of those events will take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday afternoon. Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall will rematch in the main event of UFC Fight Night 99, while the main card also features the likes of Ross Pearson vs. Stevie Ray, Timmy Johnson vs. Alexander Volkov and Artem Lobov vs. Teruto Ishihara. The opening odds for these matches were recently released on www.MMAOddsBreaker.com. Today, MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the remaining betting lines for UFC Fight Night 99 at Several Bookmakers. Those bouts include (hopefully) Ian McCall’s return to competition after nearly two years riddled with bad injuries and even worse luck. McCall was forced out of four bouts between December 2013 and August 2015 due to various injuries, and he has most recently seen Justin Scoggins miss weight and Ray Borg get sick during the week of his fights. Perhaps Neil Seery and McCall both make it to the Octagon on the 19th, and if they do, it should be a highly entertaining bout. Fight Night 99 will also see the debut of former Cage Warriors middleweight champion Jack Marshman, as the Welshman takes on Magnus Cedenblad and his four-fight winning streak. Lightweights Kevin Lee and Magomed Mustafaev also square off in one of the better bouts on the card. Perhaps the crowning jewel of the entire card — not just the preliminaries — is a flyweight showdown between a pair of former title challengers. Kyoji Horiguchi challenged for Demetrious Johnson’ title at just 23 years of age, and he put forth one of the better tests the longtime champion has faced. Coming off two wins since, he faces Ali Bagautinov, who tested positive for EPO when he challenged for the title and has gone 1-1 since returning from his suspension. Check out all 10 betting lines for the UFC Fight Night 99 prelims below, and head over to Several Bookmakers to bet them. ——————– MAIN CARD
——————– PRELIMINARY CARD UFC Fight Pass – 12:15 p.m. ET Neil Seery +325 Ian McCall -475 Over 2.5 -210 Under 2.5 +160 – Jack Marshman +170 Magnus Cedenblad -230 Over 1.5 -140 Under 1.5 +100 – Ali Bagautinov +180 Kyoji Horiguchi -260 Over 2.5 -245 Under 2.5 +175 – Magomed Mustafaev +110 Kevin Lee -150 Over 1.5 -190 Under 1.5 +150 – Amanda Cooper +125 Anna Elmose -165 Over 2.5 -175 Under 2.5 +135 – Mark Godbeer +115 Justin Ledet -155 Over 1.5 -140 Under 1.5 +100 – Alexander Yakovlev +170 Zak Cummings -230 Over 2.5 -210 Under 2.5 +60 – Milana Dudieva +165 Marion Reneau -215 Over 2.5 -170 Under 2.5 +130 – Kwan Ho Kwak +170 Brett Johns -230 Over 2.5 -210 Under 2.5 +160 – Charlie Ward +285 Abdul Razak Alhassan -405 Over 1.5 +150 Under 1.5 -190 – ——————– Brad’s Analysis: If McCall can actually make it to the cage in relatively healthy condition, he’s a terrible matchup for Seery. Between his own (numerous) injuries and a string of bad luck lately, that’s been a massive challenge for the former top flyweight, though. His boxing is crisp enough that he could win a striking battle here (if his hands don’t explode), and his wrestling is miles beyond what Seery brings. It’s nearly impossible to trust McCall in any sort of situation where you have to lay a decent amount of juice on him, but given the matchup and Seery’s advanced age, it’s hard to argue with McCall being a healthy favorite. Aside from being afflicted with the syndrome known as “tall guy defense” Cedenblad is a talented and underrated fighter. His length has allowed him to develop potent offensive striking and a sneaky submission game which he has carried to a four-fight win streak. While Marshman’s strength is his boxing, and that aligns nicely with Cedenblad’s weakness in striking defense, I still think the Swede is able to extend his streak. Despite both challenging for the flyweight title, the best win between the pair of Horiguchi and Bagautinov is a much lesser John Lineker than the one we know today. It’s impossible to deny the talent of both men however, they were simply advanced too quickly in a division struggling for contenders. When matched up against one another, I think the biggest disparity will be speed. In terms of both hand and foot speed, Horiguchi has a massive edge over Bagautinov, and I think that will result in the Russian struggling to find him for 15 minutes. Even if Bagautinov can close the distance, Horiguchi has shown good takedown defense and a quick getup game which should turn this into a 15-minute striking battle. I get the feeling that Lee will never fulfill his potential because of his chin and striking defense. When Leonardo Santos can knock you out and Efrain Escudero can hurt you, that doesn’t bode well for how you’ll fare against the upper echelon of the division. Mustafaev isn’t in that upper echelon yet, but he’s talented and aggressive in the right areas that can give Lee real trouble. If the Jake Matthews win erased some of the memories of Lee’s striking deficiencies, we could see another inflated line and I’d be willing to take a shot on Mustafaev. I didn’t watch any of the TUF season with Amanda Bobby Cooper, nor do I have any recollection of her TUF finale or lone Invicta fight. That’s probably not an indicator of long-term success in the Octagon, but she is young and has plenty of time to improve. Ideally, she should force Anna Elmose to grapple in this fight, since the Dane has big punching power for this division. The problem for Cooper is that I don’t think she has the wrestling to take this fight to the ground, which means she’ll be stranded on the feet against a far more dangerous and aggressive power puncher. Well, we learned in his UFC debut that Justin Ledet can take some punishment and remain fairly technical and composed. Mark Godbeer doesn’t have much more than punching power, so Ledet should be safe here to remain undefeated, but you never know when that one punch can land in the heavyweight division and change everything. I’d be surprised if it happens here, but there’s enough of a threat to keep me from playing Ledet. In a fight between a pair of underrated welterweights, I simply think Cummings is better than Yakovlev. In terms of wrestling, he has the advantage and can replicate some of the success Kamaru Usman had, but without necessarily having to take the fight to the ground because his striking has improved so much. Because Yakovlev if often so disrespected at the betting window, this could be the rare case where Cummings is a healthy favorite, in which case I’d have to pass on a fighter who I often find value in. Technically, there’s no reason Marion Reneau shouldn’t beat Milana Dudieva. She’s a better, longer striker, with superior wrestling and BJJ. However, at 39 years old, how much can she really be trusted, especially coming off of two lacklustre performances? Granted, she should have won a decision over Ashlee Evans-Smith, but that was a fight that shouldn’t have been as close as it was in the first place. I’ll pick her here, but won’t bet her and won’t be surprised if she comes out and doesn’t look great.