The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is live on Pay Per View this Saturday, May 23rd at 10pm ET with a pair of title fights. Preceding the five fight PPV main card, preliminary will be live on FOX Sports 1 at 8pm ET and UFC Fight Pass at 6:30pm ET prior to that. If interested in wagering on this PPV fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Headlining the evenings televised preliminary card on FOX Sports 1 will be a flyweight contest that will likely determine the next challenger for Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and his Flyweight title. Action is expected when John “The Magician” Dodson returns from his extended injury layoff to take on former Bellator Bantamweight Champion, Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky. Dodson was in line to get a second crack at Johnson and his 125-pound gold a year ago, prior to suffering a knee injury. In his return to action, he has opted to take another fight before challenging the Champion again. Standing in his way is Makovsky, who has his own dreams, and they include once again wearing Championship gold around his waist. It was Dodson who opened as the favorite in this contest at -400, with Makovsky being a +280 underdog. The public has since backed “The Magician” and brought betting lines to a current -500/+435. The preceding bout comes in the welterweight division and see’s the return of “Stun Gun” Dong Hyun Kim, who looks to bounce back into the win column with a win over fellow veteran Josh Burkman. For many hardcore fight fans, this is amongst the most looked forward to match-ups on the entire card. “Stun Gun” was riding an impressive four-fight winning streak that included two knockout finishes heading into a co-main event bout against Tyron Woodley, and the confidence he had gained from those knockouts proved to be costly, as Woodley took advantage of the Korean’s aggression early in the first round of action. When Kim attempted a spinning back elbow, the same maneuver which he had knocked out John Hathaway with, Woodley countered with a precise punch that put him out cold. Burkman last saw action against Hector Lombard at UFC 182 four months ago in his second stint with the UFC, and lost the bout via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards following three rounds of lackluster action. The result of the bout has since been turned to a No Contest, due to Lombard testing positive for anabolic steroids. Kim opened as a -270 favorite in this contest, with Burkman being a +190 underdog. The public has since backed Kim and brought betting lines to their current -255/+235. Preceding the welterweight action is a middleweight match-up between The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 finalist Uriah Hall and Brazilian veteran Rafael “Sapo” Natal. Both 185-pounders are eager to extend their winning streaks inside the Octagon tomorrow night. Hall has three in a row now with a pair of TKOs and looks to make it four. Natal has two in a row and looks to make it three, coming off what I think was the best performance of his UFC career in his latest outing at UFC 183, where he took a unanimous decision over Tom Watson. Both middleweights are still improving, hungry and hoping to make noise in the division. This is definitely another scrap on this stacked fight card many fans expect will deliver. Hall opened as a -210 betting favorite, with Natal being the underdog at +160. Action has since come in heavily on Hall, as current betting lines are -380/+340. Kicking things off for the UFC 187 televised preliminary card on FOX Sports 1 is a women’s stawweight contest between “Thug” Rose Namajunas and American Top Team’s Nina Ansaroff. Both ladies are coming off losses in their promotional debuts and are eager to get back into the win column. This is certainly a fight that is expected to get the televised preliminary card action rolling on a high-note. Namajunas opened as a -280 betting favorite in this bout, with Anaroff being a +200 underdog. Action has since mostly come in on Namajunas and brought betting lines to their current -290/+265.
