The UFC today announced that a welterweight matchup between Adlan Amagov and TJ Waldburger has been added to the UFC 166 card, which takes place Oct. 19 at Toyota Center in Houston, TX. The bout will likely be part of the event’s prelims, as UFC 166’s stacked main card features matchups of Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos, Roy Nelson vs. Daniel Cormier, Nate Marquardt vs. Hector Lombard, Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez and Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Boetsch, and there’s also fights like Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shawn Jordan and KJ Noons vs. George Sotiropoulos on the loaded undercard. As for the fight between Amagov and Waldburger, it’s essentially a classic striker vs. grappler matchup, and as a fan of both fighters as they’ve come up through the ranks, I have to say this is a damn good fight and it’s happening at the right point of each fighter’s career. Amagov recently made his UFC debut at UFC on FUEL TV 9, and he defeated Chris Spang via unanimous decision. Although the fight wasn’t the most exciting, a win is still a win and it kept Amagmov moving ahead in the division. Prior to his tenure in the UFC, Amagov had an up-and-down run in Strikeforce but he still has a lot of potential and a lot of time to show it as the UFC is likely to keep him around while they try and make inroads into Russia and the surrounding area. Waldburger, meanwhile, was recently injured and forced to pull out of a UFC 161 matchup against Sean Pierson, and now he hasn’t fought since a December 2012 submission win over Nick Catone at the TUF 16 Finale. But even with a little bit of ring rust, Waldburger will still be able to unleash his wicked BJJ game if this fight goes to the mat, and that’s the main danger that Amagov is going to have to watch for in a fight he’ll look to keep standing. This is pretty even match and it just depends if it takes place standing or on the ground, as each man has a decisive advantage in one area, although I have to admit Waldburger’s striking is getting better (his chin is still a question mark though). This seems like a real Pick ’em fight to me but because Waldburger is a little bit more established in the division I would guess he opens a slight favorite, perhaps -135 to the underdog Amagov at around +115. I actually do like the Texas native Waldburger in this matchup, and if I can get him at close to a Pick ’em, I will likely play him this October.
