This weekend, the World Series of Fighting makes their way back to the organization’s east coast home. The fifth offering from the company comes to us from the Revel Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Although the deck has been reshuffled, this should still end up being an interesting card, as underneath some of the borrowed name power from old UFC and Strikeforce veterans, the WSOF is developing some solid talent of their own. The main event has continued the trend of giving recognizable names top billing, as former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski headlines his third card for the organization, taking on Mike Kyle in a fight that you’d think would see a finish. The other main attraction is the four-man middleweight tournament featuring Dave Branch, Danillo Villefort, Elvis Mutapcic and Jesse Taylor. The winner of this tournament will go a long way to improve their standing at 185lbs. The NBC Sports televised card is rounded out by a bout between Rolles Gracie and Derrick Mehmen, and a featherweight tilt pitting Georgi Karakhanyan and Waylon Lowe against one another, in what is the most intriguing of all five televised fights. Today, MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for the main card fights at Several Bookmakers. Check them out below: ——————– Andrei Arlovski -125 Mike Kyle -115 Middleweight Tournament Semifinal Dave Branch -175 Danillo Villefort +135 Middleweight Tournament Semifinal Jesse Taylor -120 Elvis Mutapcic -120 Rolles Gracie -260 Derrick Mehmen +180 Georgi Karakhanyan -130 Waylon Lowe -110 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: You have to take a long, hard look at Mike Kyle to defeat Andrei Arvloski here, given the immense power and fragile chin involved in this bout, but it is by no means a lock. Sometimes Arlovski is able to withstand the onslaught from his opponents, like against ‘Rumble’ Johnson, and sometimes he looks as if a stiff breeze will do the trick. If his chin holds up, he should have the better cardio and overall skill to take a late stoppage or a decision. It’s all a matter of how much you trust Arlovski’s anatomy in this one, as he is the better overall fighter. In the middleweight tournament, I certainly expect Dave Branch to be one of the participants in the final, as his grinding style of grappling should wear Danillo Villefort down over the course of three rounds. Branch is well equipped to deal with Villefort’s most dangerous asset, his BJJ game, and should be able to garner top position more times than not when this hits the ground. On the other side of the bracket, things become far murkier to me. Many expect Elvis Mutapcic to roll in this fight, by virtue of being the best striker in the tournament, but Jesse Taylor is really one of the best middleweights on the regional level and has been for years. Taylor’s problem has always been fighters who are able to negate his wrestling and grappling either by being able to take him down, or simply being so much more skilled on the ground that they can tap him from their guards. Mutapcic is a serviceable wrestler and submission artist, but if Taylor flips to a dog here, I like him for a bet. Rolles Gracie is the type of fighter that is great to live bet. Chances are that he will outgrapple Derrick Mehmen in round one, but if he doesn’t get the submission there his cardio is such a liability that you almost expect him to lose after that. It’s tough to bet Mehmen outright because of the grappling advantage Gracie holds, but this is definitely a dog or pass situation to me. Finally, the Karakhanyan/Lowe bout is the most interesting and really the best way to kick off the main card. Lowe has shown some solid improvement since his time in the UFC, although he is still susceptible to submissions and getting into brawls. Karakhanyan can take advantage of either fault, as I believe he is the more technical striker and certainly has the edge in submissions. Despite that, Lowe may be able to replicate the success another wrestler, Joe Warren, had against Karakhanyan during his time in Bellator if he approaches this fight intelligently. Personally, I feel that given his recent success with his hands, Lowe will choose to stand and trade in this one, and the value lies with Karakhanyan due to that.
