A couple of big fights have been announced for fall fight cards, and I’ll give my thoughts on them in today’s MMA odds and ends.
Sergio Pettis vs. Jussier Formiga, UFC 229
An important flyweight matchup between Sergio Pettis and Jussier that could determine the next No. 1 contender at 125lbs has been added to UFC 229, which takes place Saturday, October 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. News of the bout was first revealed by ESPN.com’s Ariel Helwani. The card does not yet have a headliner but is expected to have a main event between UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champ Conor McGregor. Pettis (17-3) is coming off of the biggest win of his career over Joseph Benavidez and overall he has won five of his last six fights. At only 24, Sergio is starting to finally show the signs of championship potential that we all hoped he would have being the brother of Anthony Pettis. Formiga (21-5) is 33 now but he’s still fighting a very high level having beaten Ben Nguyen and Ulka Sasaki via submission in his last two fights. Overall, Formiga has a 7-4 record in the UFC. I really like this fight but considering how good Pettis looked against Benavidez he should be favored to win this one.
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Anthony Smith, UFC Fight Night 138
A light heavyweight matchup between Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith will serve as the main event of UFC Fight Night 138, which takes place Saturday, October 27 at Moncton Events Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. The UFC has officially confirmed this bout as the five-round main event. Oezdemir (15-2) has not fought since a TKO loss to Daniel Cormier earlier this year but prior to that had reeled off three straight wins in the UFC to become the No. 1 conender. Oezdemir has incredible KO power as we saw in his win over Jimi Manuwa and if he can harness that power he has the ability to knock anyone out at 205lbs. Smith (30-13) is the talk of the town right now in the UFC. After a solid run as a middleweight that ended with a KO loss to Thiago Santos, Smith made the decision to move up to light heavyweight and so far the results have been spectacular as he’s knocked out both Rashad Evans and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. This is a real step up for Smith but based on his performances it’s hard not to favor him to win this fight.
