UFC Fight Night 48 Date: August 23, 2014 Arena: The Venetian Macau’s CotaiArena City: Macau, China UFC Fight Night 48 will be live from China this Saturday with a 10-fight card to be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass. The four-fight main card will be live at 9am ET, with preliminary action getting going at 6:30am ET. If interested in wagering on these plays, or any other plays for this fight card, you may do so at Several Bookmakerss. My live dogs for UFC Fight Night 48 are: Middleweight bout: Cung Le (+265) vs Michael Bisping (-325) Gabe’s Thoughts: Cung Le returns to action in China against Michael Bisping in a match-up I feel he is being underrated and undervalued going into. I feel he has certain advantages over Bisping on the feet and is more likely to finish the fight with a single strike or combination. Bisping could possibly earn a late TKO, but more likely and often than not, if he wins, I think it will be a decision. Le, however could earn a decision, as well as stop Bisping on the feet, so I feel he has more routes to victory in this match-up. While Bisping is not an easy opponent to put away; stylistically, I think Le is one of the few strikers in the division who has a good chance of getting it done. I think this fight is a lot closer than the betting odds suggest, and I do slightly lean with Le to pick up the win. Gabe’s Call: Le by KO (headkick, 4:01 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Le (+265) 1.6u to win 4.24u Lightweight bout: Brendan O’Reilly (-155) vs Zhang Lipeng (+135) Gabe’s Thoughts: This is more of a Brendan O’Reilly fade than anything else. I am not big on Zhang Lipeng, but I do believe he is the superior mixed martial artist in this match-up. For this bout, he will be dropping down from 170-pounds down to the 155-pound division, so I expect him to have a size advantage over the Australian heading in. I am expecting Lipeng to grind out an uneventful decision victory on the judges’ scorecards in front of his home crowd. I do think he should be the small favorite in this bout, so I think there is value in him as a +135 underdog. Gabe’s Call: Lipeng by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Lipeng (+135) 2u to win 2.7u Welterweight bout: Colby Covington (-380) vs Wang Anying (+315) Gabe’s Thoughts: Covington is certainly the superior wrestler in this scrap and I see that as being his game-plan for this fight. I think he will try to grind Anying out en route to a victory on the judges’ scorecards. That said; contrary to popular opinion, I don’t think it will be an easy task. I expect Anying to give him trouble on the feet, and I would not be surprised to see him get the stoppage over Covington. I lean with Covington to pick up the nod, but Anying is a live dog here and is being undervalued, in my opinion. At the current line of +315, I do think there is enough value to warrant a play. Regardless of the outcome for this bout, I expect both of these welterweights to have a bright future inside the Octagon. Gabe’s Call: Covington by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Anying (+315) 1u to win 3.15u
