A couple of new UFC bouts were announced over the weekend. Here they are, along with my initial thoughts on them.
Vicente Luque vs. Jalin Turner, UFC 229
A welterweight bout between Vicente Luque and Jalin Turner is the final addition to UFC 229, which goes down Saturday, October 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The UFC officially confirmed the bout during the UFC Fight Night 137 broadcast. Luque (13-6-1) is 6-2 overall in the UFC and is coming off of back-to-back stoppage wins over Chad Laprise and Niko Price. He is one of the most underrated welterweights in the UFC and should be given the opportunity to fight a top-15 opponent with another win here. Turner (7-3) is on a three-fight win streak and is coming off of a TKO win over Max Mustaki on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. I personally don’t understand the matchmaking here as Luque should be fighting ranked opponents by now while Turner is just getting his feet wet in the UFC. I’d have to highly favor Luque here to get the win and expect him to be a big betting favorite.
Ruslan Magomedov vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima, UFC 230
A heavyweight matchup featuring Ruslan Magomedov and Marcos Rogerio de Lima will take place at UFC 230, which is set to take place Saturday, November 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Magomedov (14-1) is a perfect 3-0 in the UFC but hasn’t fought since 2013 due to a USADA violation and subsequent suspension. Overall he is on a 10-fight win streak and if he can come back healthy could be an instant contender at heavyweight. De Lima (15-5-1) is 4-3 overall in the UFC but lost by submission to Ovince Saint-Preux in his last fight. He hasn’t competed since last fall as he was flagged by USADA but later vindicated. This is an interesting matchup as De Lima is a proven finisher at light heavyweight while Magomedov was a solid heavyweight before his layoff. Even with the layoff, though, I’d still have to favor Magomedov as I think he’s more well-rounded, but I’m not sure he’s a good bet here considering how long he has been out of the cage.
Maryna Moroz vs. Ariane Lipski, UFC Fight Night 140
A women’s flyweight bout between Maryna Moroz and Ariane Lipski will take place at UFC Fight Night 140, which takes place Saturday, November 17 at Estadio Mary Teran de Weiss in Buenos Aries, Argentina. Lipski took the fight on short notice due to an injury to Veronica Macedo. Combate broke the news. Moroz (8-3) is 3-3 overall in the UFC but is coming off of consecutive losses to Angela Hill and Carla Esparza. Lipski (11-3) was the KSW women’s flyweight champion and is on a nine-fight win streak. Even though she technically took the fight on short notice, the card is in November so that should give Lipski plenty of time to prepare for the bout, and I like her to get the win here. I just haven’t been impressed with Moroz lately and think she needs to be faded here.
