The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale is coming at us live this Saturday from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s been a tumultuous season to say the least, and it’s less-than-stellar cast members aren’t being invited to fight on the undercard like in previous years. That gives us a surprisingly stacked preliminary card full of names and up-and-comers that will be televised live on FUEL TV starting at 7 p.m. (ET). The FUEL portion of the prelims begins with a welterweight showdown between TJ Waldburger (15-7) and Nick Catone (9-3). All three of Catone’s losses have come inside the Octagon, and as a Division I wrestler and brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, when the fight isn’t on the ground, he has troubles. In his opponent Waldburger, you have a 24-year-old who is still very raw and coming off a disappointing loss over a surging (at the time) Brian Ebersole. Waldburger is constantly moving and supremely comfortable on his back, so this is a fight that has grapplefest written all over it. However, both fighters may respect each other’s game enough to see who is the better striker. This is a very close matchup with Waldburger opening as a -125 favorite (bet $125 to win $100) according to the MMA odds against the underdog Catone (-105). Next, a pair of lightweight newcomers make their Octagon debuts at the TUF 16 Finale. TUF 15 cast member Vinc Pichel (7-0) and Russian Rustam Khabilov (14-1) will lock horns in an attempt to ruin the other fighter’s night. Khabilov is a phenomenal Judo and Sambo practitioner and uses it well in the ring. He spent years in M-1 Global, and his recent fight in ONE FC is one of his only “cage fights,” so it will be interesting to see how does against someone who has always been in a cage. Pichel opened as a +140 underdog (bet $100 to win $140) yet has finished every fight he’s been in with strikes, so the favored and more experienced Khabilov (-170) will want to close the distance early and often. TUF 14 alum Johnny Bedford (18-9) will meet Brazil’s Marcos Vinicius Borges (20-3-1) in what should be a scrappy affair. Bedford is a big bantamweight at 5-foot-10, and he has good all-around skills. However, he has been submitted eight times in his career and just happens to be facing a man who has finished every fight he’s won with 13 submission wins and seven knockouts on his resume. It will be a challenge, but the favored Bedford (-250) has also faced tougher competition in his career than Borges (+190). In the final prelim of the night, we have grizzled vet Mike Pyle (23-8-1) taking on rising fighter James Head (9-2). Pyle has basically seen it all and done it all, and he’s put together a 6-3 record in the UFC, falling to the upper echelon of the welterweight division while getting the job done against the fighters he should be beating. He is a solid welterweight and as experienced as they come with knockout power, but his real skills come on the mat as he is a brown belt in BJJ and has 16 submissions to his name. Head is not nearly as experienced as Pyle, but he is well-rounded for his relatively young career and has excellent takedown defense to go along with a nearly bottomless gas tank. Pyle’s experience though has him as a clear favorite at -210 to Head’s +160.
