UFC 175 Date: July 5, 2014 Arena: Mandalay Bay Events Center City: Las Vegas, NV UFC 175 will be live on Saturday with 11 scheduled bouts, including a five-fight main card that will be live on Pay Per View at 10pm ET. Getting the action started for the evening will be a pair of preliminary bouts streaming live on UFC Fight Pass at 7pm ET. If interested in wagering on these preliminary bouts, or any others on this fight card, these lines will be made available to you at Several Bookmakerss. Here are my plays for the UFC 175 preliminary bouts on Fight Pass… Middleweight: Guilherme “Bomba” Vasconcelos (-155) vs Luke Zachrich (+135) Gabe’s Thoughts: This is first and foremost a fade against Zachrich, who I don’t believe belongs in the UFC. “Bomba” is not exactly a UFC-caliber fighter, either, but he possesses the better chin and the bigger heart, and I believe that may very well play the difference in this bout. He will be at a size disadvantage, but I don’t think it will matter when he closes the distance and takes Zachrich down. I think there’s a decent chance he takes his back and sinks in a choke, or some other submission. I could even see him scoring the knockout, considering that Zachrich does not have a very good chin. Not only do I favor him to get the finish, but should the fight hit the judges’ scorecards, I favor “Bomba” to take the nod. Gabe’s Call: “Bomba” by Submission (rear naked choke, 3:58 round 2) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Vasconcelos (-155) 1.86u to win 1.2u Middleweight bout: Kevin “King” Casey (+150) vs William “Bubba” Bush (-170) Gabe’s Thoughts: This is a match-up between RFA middleweight champion vs Legacy MC middleweight champion, with both champs coming off recent wins. After going 0-1 inside the Octagon, Casey was released from the promotion but has since picked up three consecutive victories under the RFA banner, last defeating the then-undefeated prospect Andrew Sanchez a month ago to win the promotion’s vacant belt. The fight is an even shorter notice for Bush, who defeated Alfonso Gonzales to retain his title just over a couple of weeks ago. “Bubba” is a talented wrestler who has been showing improvements in his striking, as well as his submission game. Submission defense, however, has been his biggest weakness, and that may be what costs him this fight against the heavy handed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in Casey. That said, I think his defense has improved, as well, and he will be able to fend off Casey’s submission attempts, as he outwrestles The Ultimate Fighter season 18 veteran en route to a decision victory on the judges’ scorecards. A TKO is certainly not out of the question, given Casey’s history of cardio issues, but I feel Casey will display heart and go all 15 minutes in this one. Gabe’s Call: Bubba Bush by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Bush (-170) 3.4u to win 2u
