A couple new UFC bouts were announced over the weekend, and I’ll give my thoughts on them in today’s MMA odds and ends.
Sheymon Moraes vs. Matt Sayles, UFC 227
A featherweight bout between Sheymon Moraes and Matt Sayles has been added to UFC 227, which takes place Saturday, August 4 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The bout was reported by Moraes himself on his social media pages. Moraes (9-2) made his UFC debut late last year and suffered a submission loss to highly-touted prospect Zabit Magomedsharipov, but of course there’s no shame in that. The 27-year-old Brazilian had gone 3-1 in World Series of Fighting before his UFC debut with a notable win over Robbie Peralta and his lone loss in WSOF against Marlon Moraes. Sayles (7-1) is making his UFC debut fresh off of a TKO win over Yazan Hajeh on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. All told, six of the 24-year-old American’s wins have come by knockout. This should be a pretty great fight between two young featherweights with knockout power, but I have to go with Sayles. I was super impressed with him on the Contender Series and at his young age he should continue to improve and get better.
Iuri Alcantara vs. Cory Sandhagen, UFC Fight Night 135
A bantamweight matchup featuring Iuri Alcantara and Cory Sandhagen is the latest addition to UFC Fight Night 135, which takes place Saturday, August 25 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. Combate first reported the matchup. Alcantara (36-9, 1 NC) is a long-time veteran of the UFC and is coming off of one of his best performances in the Octagon as he knocked out Joe Soto earlier this year. The 37-year-old Brazilian is 10-6, 1 NC in the UFC overall and generally only loses to elite competition. Sandhagen (8-1) defeated Austin Arnett earlier this year via TKO in his UFC debut. The 26-year-old American is currently riding a three-fight win streak with knockouts in all of those wins and he is looking like he could be something special in the bantamweight division. Alcantara is the ultimate gatekeeper at 135lbs and while this won’t be an easy fight for Sandhagen by any means, it’s a fight I think he can win. I’ll be interested in seeing what the opening odds for this one are, because if Sandhagen is the underdog I would definitely consider taking a shot on him. As good as Alcantara can be at times, he can also be very inconsistent, and hard to trust with your money.
