The UFC yesterday announced two new bouts for upcoming fight cards, and for today’s MMA Odds and Ends I’ll give my quick thoughts on both of the matchups. Alan Jouban vs. Seth Baczynski, UFC Fight Night 47 The first new fight announced is a three-round welterweight bout at UFC Fight Night 47 between veteran Seth Baczynski and UFC newcomer Alan Jouban. The card takes place August 17 at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine, and it’s like Jouban vs. Baczynski will be a part of the evening’s main card. Baczynski, one of the tallest welterweights in the UFC, is coming off a “Fight of the Night” decision loss to Thiago Alves, where he put on a surprisingly good showing despite being overmatched in the striking department. Although “The Polish Pistola” gets little love from the fans or the betting public, he is a very solid welterweight and a good first UFC fight for Jouban. As for Jouban, he is an RFA vet who will be making his UFC after earning a trip to the Octagon following a 3-1 record in RFA with the only loss coming to Mike Rhodes, who is currently in the UFC. Jouban has some talent on the feet for sure and the UFC gave him a very fair fight here against Baczynski that will prove if he’s ready or not ready yet to fight in the UFC. As for a line, this is a close fight to call but based on the hype Jouban will likely be a small favorite here, although you can’t count out Baczynski and it wouldn’t shock me at all if he managed to end Jouban’s hype train. Ruslan Magomedov vs. Ben Rothwell, UFC 177 The second new fight announced is a three-round heavyweight bout between Ruslan Magomedov and Ben Rothwell, which is set to take place at UFC 177. That event takes place August 30 at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California, and the Magomedov/Rothwell fight could very well be a part of the evening’s main card, depending on what other matchups are booked for the event in the next month or so. This is Rothwell’s first fight in a year. He defeated Brandon Vera via TKO at UFC 164, but after testing positive for elevated testosterone levels was suspended for nine months by the UFC. The loss to Vera got Rothwell back in the win column, but after the drug suspension and considering he’s getting up there in age, it seems like the UFC is using him as a sacrificial lamb here to get Magomedov a name win on his resume. Speaking of Magomedov, he earned a hard-fought decision win over Viktor Pesta in his UFC debut but he showed some flaws in that fight, namely his chin, as he was knocked down by someone not known for their knockout power. He did come back to win the second and third rounds against Pesta, but it’s hard to forget him being hurt like that and Rothwell certainly has the power to do the same thing. As far as the line goes, I expect it to be pretty close but with a slight lean towards Magomedov as Rothwell doesn’t get much respect from the betting public and I don’t expect it to start here with him coming off such a long layoff. But it’s a really close fight on paper and could go either way, so it will be interesting for sure to see who the public favors here.
