Two new bouts were added to UFC on FOX 14 — which takes place January 24 at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden — and for Friday’s MMA Odds and Ends I’ll list the matchups and give my quick take on both of them. Andy Ogle vs. Makwan Amirkhani Andy Ogle and his 1-4 UFC record is surprisingly getting another chance to hang around the Octagon as the promotion has paired the Brit up with newcomer Makwan Amirkhani in a UFC on FOX 14 prelim. Ogle is riding a three-fight losing streak and absolutely needs a victory to keep his job, while Amirkhani will be looking to pick up a win over the TUF 15 veteran in his Octagon debut. I don’t know much about Amirkhani, but if he’s talented and gas a solid gas tank I don’t see how he doesn’t win this fight. All credit to Ogle for hanging around the Octagon for six fights, but it’s pretty clear to me this is a fight who is not UFC caliber and UFC matchmaker Sean Shleby did him a huge solid by even giving him this opportunity. Ogle’s a tough guy for sure, but he lacks in skill and the only way he can win this fight is if he outworks and outhearts Amirkhani, a path to victory that is very difficult to bet on. It seems pretty obvious from the matchmaking that the UFC wants to see where Amirkhani fits in the featherweight division and they are giving him the guy who is at the bottom of the ladder in his debut. Even without having seen tape on Amirkhani yet, I can already assume he will open this favorite as Ogle is an automatic fade against almost anyone he fights, although I do give him an outside chance of winning this fight depending on how the “Octagon jitter” affect Amirkhan in his UFC debut. Mirsad Bektic vs. Alan Omer A featherweight bout between Mirsad Bektic and Alan Omer was also added to the UFC on FOX 14 card. Bektic, one of the top prospects at 145lbs in the sport, will be competing for the first time since an April majority decision victory over Chas Skelly at UFC on FOX 11, a win that looks excellent in retrospect. In this matchup he will take a step down in competition when he faces off against the tough and durable Omer, who dropped a close split decision victory to Jim Alers in his debut in Abu Dhabi this past April as well. I like Bektic and I see a bright future for him in the sport, but clearly the UFC wants to build him up slow as they are pairing him up with a fighter coming off of a loss in Omer. I like Omer and think he is a pretty decent fighter overall, but Bektic is on a whole other level and should absolutely find a way to get his hand raised here. It’s possible the fight could go the full three rounds since Omer is so tough, but I also think there’s a good chance Bektic gets a finish in this bout. Look for Bektic to open as a heavy favorite in the -300 range, or possibly even higher depending on the hype.
