The UFC has booked a couple massive fights for summer fight cards, and I’ll give my thoughts on them in today’s MMA odds and ends.
Brad Tavares vs. Israel Adesanya, TUF 28 Finale
The main event of The Ultimate Fighter 28 is official, and it’s a good one. In the five-round main event, middleweight contenders Brad Tavares and Israel Adesanya clash in what is a very intriguing fight. The TUF 28 Finale goes down Friday, July 6 at Pearl Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the next night at T-Mobile will be UFC 226. Tavares (17-4) has gone 12-4 overall in the UFC and is currently riding a four-fight win streak with a huge knockout win over Krzysztof Jotko in his last bout. Adesanya (13-0) is undefeated in MMA and is 2-0 so far in the UFC. A lot of people feel like this is bad matchmaking but I like it. It’s a sink-or-swim moment for Adesanya and we’re going to find out soon how good he is. Tavares is no joke and is Adesanya gets by him he will be on the short list of middleweight title contenders. This is a tough one to call but it seems like most think Tavares should be favored. Having said that I think Adesanya is really good and I wouldn’t be writing him off just yet after a mediocre performance in his last fight against Marvin Vettori.
Junior dos Santos vs. Blagoy Ivanov, UFC Fight Night 133
A heavyweight battle between former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and newcomer Blagoy Ivanov will headline UFC Fight Night 133, which takes place Saturday, July 14 at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho. ESPN.com reported the bout, which will be contested over five rounds. JDS (18-5) was recently cleared to fight by USADA and is making his return to the cage just over a year after getting knocked out by Stipe Miocic at UFC 211. Ivanov (16-1, 1 NC) was the WSOF/PFL heavyweight champ and has won five-straight fights. The former Bellator standout only has one loss his whole career and it came against top contender Alexander Volkov. I don’t think anyone could have expected this matchmaking but I do like this fight. I expect JDS to be the favorite here but I think Ivanov is an excellent fighter and has a really good change to get the upset in his UFC debut so I will be paying close attention to the odds.
Anthony Pettis vs. Michael Chiesa Re-Booked For UFC 226
After getting cancelled at the last minute due to an injury to Michael Chiesa’s face after Conor McGregor allegely attacked a van, Chiesa will now fight Anthony Pettis at UFC 226, which goes down Saturday, July 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. MMAFighting.com reported the news. I have already broken down this fight for UFC 223 before it was cancelled and I favor Chiesa to get the win here. The oddsmakers had Chiesa as a small favorite during fight week and I expect that to happen here again.
