A number of new UFC bouts were announced in the last 24 hours, and for today’s MMA Odds and Ends I’ll give my initial thoughts on all of them. Tom Niinimaki vs. Nicklas Backstrom, UFC Fight Night 41 A featherweight bout between Tom Niinimaki and Nicklas Backstrom is the latest addition to UFC Fight Night 41, which is set for May 31 at O2 World in Berlin, Germany. Backstrom is taking the fight on short notice following an injury withdrawal by veteran Thiago Tavares. This fight between Niinimaki and Backstrom should actually be quite fantastic and the only thing that I’m upset about is that Backstrom, who is one of the top prospects in Europe, won’t have a full camp to prepare for it. Still, this should be a good fight and the winner will take a big step up at 145. Look for a close line here, with a possible slight edge for Niinimaki, who has already fought in the Octagon and who has had a full training camp. Jason Saggo vs. Josh Shockley, UFC 174 A lightweight bout between UFC newcomers Jason Saggo and Josh Shockley was added to UFC 174, which takes place June 14 in Vancouver, British Columbia. I don’t know much about Shockley but Saggo is one of the best prospects in Canada and I would expect him to be a slight favorite in this bout, which of course takes place in his home country. Claudio Henrique da Silva vs. Neil Magny, UFC Fight Night 43 A welterweight bout between Claudio Henrique da Silva and Neil Magny has been added to UFC Fight Night 43, which takes place June 28 in New Zealand. Richard Walsh was initially tabbed to fight da Silva but for whatever reason the UFC decided to change the matchup at the last second. I think both da Silva and Magny have a lot of flaws in their game but I have to slightly lean towards Magny here, if only because his massive reach gives him an advantage over almost every welterweight he steps into the cage with. Trevor Smith vs. Chris Camozzi, UFC 175 A middleweight bout between Trevor Smith and Chris Camozzi was added to UFC 175, which takes place July 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Camozzi was supposed to fight Bruno Santos but the Brazilian pulled out with an injury and now he takes on Smith in a fight that is a favorable matchup for him considering Smith is one of the weakest 185ers on the entire roster. This should be Camozzi’s fight to win or lose and I expect him to open as the favorite here, and if he’s available at anything under 2-to-1 he’s most likely going to be worth a play. Steven Siler vs. Noad Lahat, UFC on FOX 12 And finally, a featherweight bout between Steven Siler and Noad Lahat was added to UFC on FOX 12, which takes place July 26 in San Jose, California. Both men are coming off of a loss and so both will need to secure victory to guarantee their spot on the UFC roster going forward. I think the most interesting thing about this fight is that Siler is known for his great knee attacks while Lahat was knocked out by a flying knee in his last fight. Clearly UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby sees something interesting about that aspect of the fight just like I do, and I’m guessing that dynamic is one of the reasons he made this fight. Although Lahat was a big favorite in his last fight, he was knocked out in brutal fashion and I expect this fight with Siler will have a much more competitive line. I lean slightly towards Siler here, but it’s really a fight that can go either way because both men as so flawed.
