AXS TV returns to the airwaves this Friday night with another solid regional fight card, as XFC 27 goes down from the LC Walker Arena in Muskegon, Michigan. This event will serve to crown the victor in the XFC featherweight tournament and their 145lb champion, as Farkhad Sharipov and Deivison Ribeiro earned their spots in the final with victories earlier this fall. Neither fighter has gone five rounds in their career, so cardio could become a key to this fight and it would seem that Sharipov (14-5) has the slight edge in that department, especially if he is able to get his wrestling going. If not, Sharipov has shown some development in his hands, but the fact that he has 10 of 14 wins by decision speaks to a general lack of power from the Gracie Barra fighter despite a TKO win last time out. Ribeiro (24-9, 1 NC) on the other hand has consistently shown stopping power throughout his career, with 10 (T)KO victories to his credit. Ribeiro has shown that he can be controlled by superior wrestlers however, and has been working on that aspect of his game. As far as the odds go over at Several Bookmakers, Ribeiro opened as a -125 favorite (bet $125 to win $100), with the comeback on Sharipov at -115. If Sharipov gets to plus money, he could be worth a play in this spot. The co-main event features Detroit’s Dom O’Grady (15-6) taking on Eric Reynolds (18-6) in the lightweight division. O’Grady is coming off a loss to Satoru Kitaoka in his last bout, while Reynolds picked up the most impressive win in his career by knocking out UFC veteran Anton Kuivanen last time out. Either fighter could move themselves towards an XFC lightweight title shot with a win here, and having already dropped one title bout Reynolds should be hungry to get back into that fold. In terms of excitement, XFC would probably rather have the more dynamic Reynolds pull out the victory, as O’Grady has a habit of going to decision quite often, win or lose. Despite only having lost to fighters who are at the next level O’Grady still opens as the underdog here at +190 (bet $100 to win $190), with Reynolds the -270 favorite. I do feel Reynolds is the superior fighter, but I don’t have a great read on where O’Grady is at this point, so I consider this a pass. The third and final fight that odds will be offered on is the welterweight bout between a pair of Bellator veterans. Ryan Thomas (17-7) — who also fought in the UFC on a pair of occasions — takes on Dominique Steele (7-4). In 24 career fights, Thomas has only gone to decision twice, and all of his 17 victories have come inside the distance. He favors the submission game and is effective from both top position and from his back, however is susceptible to being tapped himself when facing superior grapplers. That shouldn’t be an issue against Steele, who prefers to throw hands and sometimes wrestle his way to wins. In his last fight he rebounded from a three-fight losing streak by beating Josh Thorpe by exhaustion, however even early in that fight he found himself in trouble, which doesn’t bode well against a better grappler in Thomas. Oddsmakers agree, as Thomas opened as a -305 favorite, with Steele sitting at +225. Also on the main card, Dave Courchaine (15-6) takes on Alexander Trevino (5-3) in lightweight bout, Marcus Reynolds (9-7) and Dequan Townsend (5-2) fight at 180lbs, and late replacement JP Reese (10-7) steps in to face AKA’s Daniel Swain (10-2). All of the XFC action can be seen live on AXS TV this Friday starting at 10pm ET. To recap, here are the opening odds for XFC 27: ——————– XFC Featherweight Title Deivison Ribeiro -125 Farkhad Sharipov -115 Eric Reynolds -270 Dom O’Grady +190 Ryan Thomas -305 Dominique Steele +225 ——————–
