Following a short hiatus, the UFC returns next Saturday for UFC 179. The event sees the Octagon travel down to Brazil once again, and it headlined by the rematch between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes for the UFC featherweight title. In the co-main event slot, light heavyweight contenders Glover Teixeira and Phil Davis look to cement their place at 205lbs. The rest of the card features the typical collection of Brazilian fighters. Betting odds were released for all five main card bouts last weekend, and you can see those here. Today, MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas looked at the preliminary portion of UFC 179 and released betting lines for those six additional bouts at Several Bookmakers. Capping off the Fox Sports 1 prelims are welterweights William Macario and Neil Magny. Brazilian submission artist Yan Cabral makes his debut at 155lbs against Japanese veteran Naoyuki Kotani. Scott Jorgensen looks to even his flyweight record at 2-2 as he takes on Wilson Reis. Keep reading for the opening lines on these three bouts as well as Felipe Arantes vs. Andre Fili and the two UFC Fight Pass prelims. ——————– MAIN CARD (Pay-Per-View, 10pm ET) UFC Featherweight Title Jose Aldo -190 Chad Mendes +150 Glover Teixeira -285 Phil Davis +205 Fabio Maldonado -130 Hans Stringer -110 Darren Elkins -150 Lucas Martins +110 Diego Ferreira -260 Beneil Dariush +180 ——————– PRELIMINARY CARD (Fox Sports 1, 8pm ET) Neil Magny -215 William Macario +165 Yan Cabral -555 Naoyuki Kotani +365 Wilson Reis -165 Scott Jorgensen +125 Andre Fili -155 Felipe Arantes +115 ——————– PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7pm ET) Gilbert Burns -350 Christos Giagos +250 Fabricio Camoes -165 Tony Martin +125 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: Macario has looked much improved in his UFC career since falling a bit flat in his TUF Brazil finale bout, but he’s got a tough matchup here against Magny who has also looked much better of late. Macario is the better striker, but Magny could use his length to nullify that advantage a bit, and the American is the better grappler by a decent margin. I think that grappling advantage should allow Magny to pick up a decision, but the line is already too high for my liking and if it goes higher, Macario’s skill on the feet could warrant a small play. Yan Cabral is a terrible matchup for Naoyuki Kotani, and as long as his cardio isn’t worse than it was against Zak Cummins, he should roll here. You can’t play him at this line after his last performance, but I see no reason to play Kotani either. Scott Jorgensen is fading at this point in his career, and Wilson Reis is a tough fight for pretty much everybody. I actually think Reis has a slight wrestling advantage here, and given how Jorgensen has performed recently in other aspects of the game, it’s tough to back him at all here. I’m not overly confident in Reis, but I would expect this fight to go over 2.5 if you’re into that sort of thing. Felipe Arantes seems to be continually overlooked in the featherweight division, and I think he can hang another loss on Andre Fili here. Fili’s cardio is probably his weakest attribute, and Arantes is one of the few Brazilians who is particularly solid in that realm. Fili will likely win the opening round and look good, but I actually think Arantes takes rounds two and three for a decision. I’m going to wait on betting it, as Fili still has some hype and I could see this line climbing. Christos Giagos is pretty solid, but heading to Brazil to face a very talented fighter like Gilbert Burns is going to be extremely difficult for him. Burns should be able to match Giagos in the striking realm, and has superior grappling. Realistically he could win wherever this fight takes place, and I think many are expecting big things out of him. I’m not sure I like parlaying him at -350 as Giagos is dangerous, but this is another case where I don’t necessarily want to throw money on the dog. Tony Martin has been an incredible disappointment in the UFC since his outstanding first round against Ruslan Magomedov. His skills are there, but his cardio has been atrocious, so it’s tough to back him on short notice heading to Brazil. Fabricio Camoes isn’t some bastion of success in the UFC, but he should actually get a win here, and deserves to be the favorite. I’m not betting it though.
