A couple new bouts have been revealed for upcoming UFC Fight Night cards, and they are listed below along with my initial thoughts on them.
Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz 3, UFC Fight Night 151
In a trilogy fight, Charles Oliveira meets Nik Lentz at UFC Fight Night 151, set for May 18 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. These two have met previously, with a No Contest in their first meeting after Oliveira landed an illegal knee that led to the finish, and then a submission win for Oliveira in the rematch. Now, they compete for a third and presumably final time. Oliveira (26-8, 1 NC) is 14-8, 1 NC overall in the UFC and has won four straight fights, all by submission. He holds the record for the most submissions in UFC history, with 13. Lentz (30-9-2, 1 NC) is 14-6-1, 1 NC in the UFC and has won back-to-back fights over Scott Holtzman and Gray Maynard and has evolved from a grinding wrestling into a well-rounded mixed martial artist. Given that Oliveira has already beaten Lentz by submission and is as hot as any lightweight in the world right now, he should be a sizeable favorite to win the trilogy fight, though I wouldn’t completely count Lentz out.
Andrea Lee vs. Montana De La Rosa, UFC Fight Night 153
Women’s flyweights Andrea Lee and Montana De La Rosa will meet at UFC Fight Night 153, taking place June 22 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. Nolan King of FloCombat broke the news. Lee (10-2) is 2-0 in the UFC and is riding an impressive six-fight win streak overall with back-to-back wins over Ashlee Evans-Smith and Veronica Macedo. De La Rosa (10-4) is 3-0 in the UFC with three wins by submission including a tapout over Rachael Ostovich. Eight of her 10 career wins have actually come by submission, making her one of the most dangerous flyweight prospects in the UFC right now. These are two of the best prospects at 125lbs, but the fact De La Rosa is finishing all of her fights should make her the betting favorite heading into it.
Jordan Griffin vs. Chas Skelly, UFC on ESPN 4
Featherweights Jordan Griffin and Chas Skelly are set to meet at UFC on ESPN 4, taking place June 29 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Griffin (17-6) lost a decision to Dan Ige in his UFC debut that snapped his four-fight win streak, which included a win on Dana White’s Contender Series that originally got him into the UFC. The fact Ige just destroyed Danny Henry makes Griffin’s close decision loss look a little better, but he definitely needs to beat Skelly here and start building a new win streak if he wants to be a featherweight contender in the UFC. Skelly (17-4) has a winning record of 7-4 in the UFC but is coming off of back-to-back stoppage losses to Bobby Moffett and Jason Knight. At one point in time he looked like a featherweight on the rise, but his last few performances were poor and he needs to rebound here against Griffin. This should be a competitive fight, but it could be a good spot to fade Skelly and take Griffin if he’s available at dog money.
