UFC president Dana White yesterday announced that lightweight Jason High, who lost via second-round T/KO to Rafael dos Anjos this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 42, has been released by the organization after shoving referee Kevin Mulhall following the bout. High was upset that Mulhall stopped his fight in what he believed was an early stoppage, but still, there is no excuse for shoving an official and the UFC made the right choice here by making a statement and releasing him from the organization. Look for High, who went 2-3 overall combined in two stints in the Octagon, to be picked up by either Bellator or World Series of Fighting in the near future. In addition to High’s release, the UFC also announced two new bouts for upcoming summer fight cards, and here are my quick thoughts on both below. Jessamyn Duke vs. Leslie Smith, UFC Fight Night 45 The UFC yesterday revealed a women’s bantamweight bout between Jessamyn Duke and Leslie Smith has been added to UFC Fight Night 45, which takes place July 16 at Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the bout will most likely be a part of the prelims. It’s a pretty solid matchup between two women coming off of losses. Smith lost to top-ranked Sarah Kaufman in her Octagon debut earlier this year, while Duke is coming off a disappointing loss to Bethe Correia. I think this is an even matchup on paper and it should be a pretty exciting standup fight when it does go down. As for the odds, I expect them to be close but with a slight lean towards Smith, who is a bigger name and who has fought better competition in her career, but this bout is very close on paper and should play out that way in the cage as well. Kyle Kingsbury vs. Patrick Cummins UFC on FOX 12 The UFC also announced that a light heavyweight bout between Kyle Kingsbury and Patrick Cummins has been added to UFC on FOX 12, which takes place July 26 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The bout will be a part of the evening’s preliminary card. This is a solid undercard matchup between two light heavyweights near the bottom of the 205lb ladder. Kingsbury hasn’t fought in nearly two years since taking a beating at the hands and feet of Jimi Manuwa, while Cummins is coming off a nice TKO win over Roger Narvaez at UFC Fight Night 42 to bounce back from his KO loss to Daniel Cormier in his UFC debut earlier this year. It’s a pretty fair fight if you ask me, and it makes sense to book it in California where both men live. As far as the line goes, I’d expect Cummins to be the favorite here, probably around 2-to-1 and possibly a tad higher. I just think there’s a lot of hype around him right now and I expect the betting public to once again give him more credit than he deserves, while at the same time giving Kingsbury less respect than he deserves.
