A trio of new bouts have been booked for upcoming summer UFC cards, and for today’s MMA odds and ends I’ll give my thoughts on all three of these new matchups.
Sage Northcutt vs. Zak Ottow, UFC Fight Night 133
A welterweight matchup between Sage Northcutt and Zak Ottow is the first fight booked for UFC Fight Night 133, which takes place Saturday, July 14 at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho. The bout was reported by Mike Heck of Fansided.com. Northcutt (10-2) has been bouncing between welterweight and lightweight throughout his UFC run, and after winning his last two fights in the lightweight division has apparently decided to move back up to welterweight. I’m not convinced that’s a good move for him, as he’s 5-0 as a lightweight in the UFC but 0-2 as a welterweight. Ottow (16-5) is 3-2 in the UFC and recently knocked out Mike Pyle. I don’t understand this matchup. I think it’s a really tough matchup for Northcutt and I don’t get why he’s moving up in weight. Northcutt is very popualr and might be favored, but I think Ottow wins this fights as he’s the more well-rounded MMA fighter.
Islam Makhachev vs. Kajan Johnson, UFC on FOX 30
A lightweight battle between Islam Makhachev and Kajan Johnson has been booked for UFC on FOX 30, which goes down Saturday, July 28 at a still-unannounced location in Canada rumored to be Calgary, Alberta. News of this bout, and the next bout below, was broken by MMAFighting.com. Makhachev (15-1) is 4-1 in the UFC and is coming off of a brutal KO win over Gleison Tibau in his last outing. Johnson (23-12-1) is a surprising 4-1 in the UFC and recently defeated Stevie Ray in yet another upset for hm. Makhachev has all the tools to be one of the best lightweights in the UFC, but I have to admit Johnson has really surprised me (in a good way). I still expect Makhachev to be the favorite here, and I do expect him to win the fight, but I wouldn’t rule out another Johnson upset based on his improvements.
Austin Arnett vs. Hakeem Dawodu, UFC on FOX 30
A featherweight bout between prospects Austin Arnett and Hakeem Dawodu has also been added to UFC on FOX 30. Arnett (15-4) was knoked out by Cory Sandhagen in his UFC debut and also lost to Brandon Davis on Dana White’s Contender Series. Dawodu (7-1-1) was submitted in 39 seconds by Danny Henry in his own UFC debut but still rates as a top-level prospect at 145lbs. Despite losing his UFC debut, I am still quite high on Dawodu and believe he should be favored to win this fight.
