The UFC has announced a number of new bouts for UFC Fight Night 74, which takes place August 23 at SaskTel Centre in Saskatchewan, Canada. Here are the bouts, along with my initial thoughts on them. Rick Story vs. Erick Silva A welterweight fight between Rick Story and Erick Silva, which was originally set for UFC Fight Night 70, has been rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 74. And like before, it’s still a very hard fight to call. Silva can win this fight early either via strikes or by submission, but if he gasses out like he always does, there’s no doubt Story is going to take over late and pour it on. I’m torn on this one. I suspect Silva is going to be the favorite because he always gets respect from the betting public, but Story is a live dog and if the line gets good enough, I may be tempted to bite on him. Regardless of who wins, though, this is a great fight between two top welterweights. Maryna Moroz vs. Valerie Letourneau A women’s strawweight bout between Maryna Moroz and Valerie Letourneau is a very weird booking as far as I’m concerned. Moroz just defeated top-ranked Joanne Calderwood in the first round, and while Letourneau has gone 2-0 in the UFC so far, her victories have come against bottom feeders. The UFC clearly is trying to build Moroz up, but I already feel like she’s ready for that next step judging on how she lit up Calderwood in the feet and then subbed her on the floor. I like Moroz a lot here, and believe she should be a pretty significant favorite over Letourneau. Josh Burkman vs. Patrick Cote A welterweight bout between Josh Burkman and Patrick Cote seems like it could have happened back in 2005 or so, but it’s happening in 2015 at UFC Fight Night 74. It’s not a bad fight, but it’s not particularly appealing, either. Cote has looked really solid as of late, especially with his improved wrestling, and we all know Burkman has issues on the mat. Burkman is a tricky veteran so you can’t count him out, but I do lean towards Cote to win this fight, likely via decision, and I believe he should be favored heading into it. Chris Kelades vs. Chris Beal And finally, a flyweight bout between Chris Kelades and Chris Beal will also take place at UFC Fight Night 73. This is another tricky fight to call. A year ago I would have picked Beal, but after his last few performances it’s hard to trust him, even against a grinder like Kelades. I do think Beal will be the favorite here, but Kelades could wrestle him and steal the decision in his home country of Canada. Just at first glance, this isn’t the kind of fight I want to bet on.
