The UFC continued announcing new fights this week, and for today’s MMA Odds and Ends I’ll give my quick thoughts on the new bouts. Rodrigo Goiana de Lima vs. Neil Magny, UFC Fight Night 43 A welterweight bout between Rodrigo Goiana de Lima and Neil Magny has been added to UFC Fight Night 43, which takes place June 28 in Auckland, New Zealand. De Lima is a replacement fighter for Claudio Henrique da Silva, and will only have a month to prepare for this bout. De Lima is the Jungle Fight welterweight champion and following in the footsteps of other Jungle Fight champs who have signed with the UFC, I expect him to be a solid addition to the roster. However, the UFC is giving him a very difficult matchup here against Magny — who has looked terrific in his last few fights — and I would be surprised if he won this bout on short notice. Look for Magny to open as the favorite here of about 2-to-1, but he’s not a sure winner by any means. Rob Font vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade, UFC 175 The UFC has signed prospect Rob Font and he will debut at UFC 175 against fellow featherweight Douglas Silva de Andrade at the UFC’s annual fourth of July weekend event in Las Vegas, Nevada. I don’t know much about Font but he has a very nice record on paper at 10-1, with the only loss coming to Bellator’s Desmond Green. He has won his last two fights via stoppage in the first round, including a victory over Canadian regional circuit vet Tristan Johnson, and based on those victories I can see why the UFC signed him. As for de Andrade, he’s another fighter with a great record at 22-1, 1 NC, but he lost his UFC debut to Zubaira Tukhugov and didn’t look good at all in the fight. To be fair to him, he did take that fight on short notice, but it really seems to me like he has a padded record and I don’t know how much success he’ll have in the Octagon. Expect a competitive line here but fading de Andrade might be a good idea in this spot, especially if he’s the favorite. Zak Cummings vs. Kenny Robertson, UFC Fight Night 45 And finally, an intriguing welterweight contest between Zak Cummings and Kenny Robertson has been added to UFC Fight Night 45: Miller vs. Cerrone, which takes place July 16 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I really like this fight on paper and think it could be a very interesting match when it plays out inside the cage. Cummings has looked terrific in the UFC, scoring wins over Ben Alloway and Yan Cabral, and with his combination of grappling and improving striking he could be a dark horse at 170lbs. As for Robertson, he’s been inconsistent inside the Octagon, but he’s coming off a terrific submission win over Thiago Perpetuo earlier this year and it’s a victory that definitely renewed some faith in the wood-shop teacher fighter. It’s a competitive fight on paper but I do lean towards Cummings ever-so-slightly and I think the line will be close to a Pick ’em when the odds are released.
