The UFC yesterday officially announced a new lightweight bout for their upcoming Fight Night card in San Antonio, and another bout between two lightweights is close to being official, according to one of the fighters involved with it. And for today’s MMA Odds and Ends, I’ll give my quick thoughts on both. Frank Trevino vs. Joe Ellenberger, UFC Fight Night San Antonio A lightweight bout between Frank Trevino and Joe Ellenberger has been added to UFC Fight Night San Antonio, which takes place June 28 at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. It’s expected this match will take place on the preliminary card. This is a fair fight between Trevino, who is 1-0 so far in the UFC, and Ellenberger, who is only 0-0 because his fight at UFC 172 was scratched at the last minute due to injury to opponent Vagner Rocha. In other words, both men are at the bottom of the lightweight ladder and both will need to keep beating other fighters at the bottom of the ladder if they want to move up. As far as how I see this fight playing out, I’ll be honest, even though I picked Trevino to defeated Renee Forte in his Octagon debut at UFC 171, he barely squeaked by with a win there and I wasn’t very impressed at all. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see Ellenberger perform in the actual Octagon last weekend so who knows how he’ll do with all the bright lights on him, but based on what I’ve seen from previous footage, Ellenberger has the style to win this fight and I do think he’ll be the favorite. My initial thoughts are that Ellenberger should be around 2-to-1 and possibly even a bit higher for this contest, one that will take place in Trevino’s home state of Texas, which is of course something to keep in mind if the fight makes it to the judges. Regardless, it’s a decent prelim scrap and the winner of the fight will certainly get a step up in competition. Jason High vs. Alan Patrick, unannounced UFC card in August Although the contracts aren’t signed yet, lightweight fighter Alan Patrick told Brazilian news outlet Tatame that he is being targeted for a fight against Jason High sometime in August. Again, it’s not official yet, but High is expected to make his long-awaited welterweight debut in the matchup. This is a pretty interesting fight. On one hand you have High, a veteran with solid takedown ability and a sensational guillotine choke, and on the other you have Patrick, an athletic specimen with solid takedowns and a capoeira background. Both men I’d say are primarily grapplers but if I had to give someone an edge on the feet it would be Patrick, even though I think he is pretty overrated overall. As far as how the lines go, this fight is interesting since it takes place at 155lbs and not High’s regular weight class of 170lbs, so that’s something to keep in mind for sure. I’d say High is an ever-so-slight favorite in this fight, but it’s a winnable bout for Patrick and it’s the kind of fight that I tend to stay away from as far as a bet goes because there’s just too many questions marks surrounding it. UPDATE: The UFC has apparently decided to go another route and now High will take on Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night Albuquerque in June. It’s unknown who Patrick will now face, but expect him to compete sometime this August.
