Another great fight has been added to UFC 227. That and some other new fights announced for upcoming UFC cards in today’s MMA odds and ends.
Jenel Lausa vs. Ulka Sasaki, UFC Fight Night 132
A bantamweight bout between Jenel Lausa and Ulka Sasaki will go down at UFC Fight Night 132, which takes place Saturday, June 23 at Singapore Indoor Arena in Kallang, Singapore. Sasaki took the fight on short notice, filling in for the injured Ashkan Mokhtarian. MMADNA.nl had the news. Lausa (7-4) is 1-2 in the UFC and lost a decision to Eric Shelton in his last fight. Sasaki (20-5-2) is 4-4 in the UFC and lost via submission to Jussier Formiga in his last fight. This looks like a striker vs. grappler bout and I will favor the grappler in this one as I believe Sasaki should be favored.
Shane Young vs. Rolando Dy, UFC Fight Night 132
Also at UFC Fight Night 132 will be a featherweight bout between Shane Young and Rolando Dy. Young (11-4) is 0-1 with the UFC and lost a unanimous decision to Alexander Volkanovski in his UFC debut. Prior to that he had won six-straight fights in the Pacific Ocean regional circuit. Dy (9-6, 1 NC) is 1-2 in the UFC with a decision win over Wuliji Buren in his last outing. This looks like a pretty close fight with perhaps a slight lean to Dy as he’s coming off of a win.
Alex Caceres vs. Martin Bravo, TUF 27 Finale
Featherweights Alex Caceres and Martin Bravo will meet at the TUF 27 Finale, which goes down Friday, June 6 at Pearl Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Las Vegas Review-Journal had the news. Caceres (13-11, 1 NC) is 8-9, 1 NC in the UFC and is coming off of a decision loss to Wang Guan. Bravo (11-1) is 1-1 in the UFC and is coming off of a KO loss to Humberto Bandenay. Tough fight to call here as Caceres has more experiene but Bravo has more potential. Even despite how bad he looked like in his last fight I’d still favor Bravo here.
Alexander Hernandez vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier, UFC on FOX 30
A lightweight tilt between top-15 ranked fighters Alexander Hernandez and Olivier Aubin-Mercier will go down at UFC on FOX 30, which takes place Saturday, July 28 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Fansided MMA broke the news. Hernandez (9-1) is 1-0 in the UFC and knocked out Beneil Dariush in his UFC debut. OAM (11-2) is 7-2 in the UFC and is coming off of a TKO win over Evan Dunham. This is a really fun matchup that features two up-and-comers looking to break into the top-10 but I would lean towards OAM based on a greater body of work so far in the UFC.
Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Yair Rodriguez, UFC 227
An intriguing featherweight bout between Zabit Magomedov and Yair Rodriguez is the latest addition to UFC 227, which goes down Saturday, August 4 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Lance Pugmire broke the news via UFC president Dana White. Magomedsaripov (15-1) is 3-0 in the UFC and won a decision over Kyle Bochniak in his last fight. Rodriguez (10-2) is 6-1 in the UFC and is coming off of a TKO loss to Frankie Edgar. As good as Rodriguez looked early in his UFC career it’s hard to pick him against Magomedsharipov, who looks like a future champion. I expect the Russian to be a huge favorite in this fight.
