Another day, another injury in the UFC — actually, two. Here are the new fights, both of which will feature fighters making their respective UFC debuts. Daniel Omielanczuk vs. Chris De La Rocha, UFC Fight Night 72 An injury to heavyweight Konstantin Erokhin has taken him out of his scheduled bout against Daniel Omielanczuk, and now Chris De La Rocha will come in on short notice to face Omielanczuk at UFC Fight Night 72, which goes down July 18 at SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. Omielanczuk is quite awful, but it’s hard to say De La Rocha is much better. The UFC newcomer only has three pro fights, and while he’s won all of them by knockout, they haven’t come against top competition. He is coming off of a TKO win on the regional circuit over journeyman DJ Linderman, which is a decent win, but Omielanczuk, for all of his faults, has at least been fighting UFC-caliber fighters, although losing to Anthony Hamilton and Jared Rosholt in back-to-back fights has him staring at the unemployment board with another L to De La Rocha. I think you have to slightly favor Omielanczuk ever-so-slightly here because of his UFC experience, but De La Rocha clearly has power and if he can connect with Omielanczuk’s chin maybe he can finish him. This isn’t a fight I recommend betting, though, as it could literally go either way depending on who lands a big strike first. Ramsey Nijem vs. Andre Holbrook, UFC on FOX 16 Due to an injury to Erik Koch, lightweight Ramsey Nijem will now take on short-notice replacement Andrew Holbrook at UFC on FOX 16, which goes down July 25 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The bout is set for the preliminary card. Holbrook has won all nine of his pro fights by submission, but he’s fought absolute cans on the regional circuit. Still, the fact he’s run through all of his opponents is impressive any way you cut it. Having said that, Nijem is a very solid veteran lightweight who has a ton of experience fighting top-level opponents in the UFC. He hasn’t fought since last summer when he was knocked out by Carlos Diego Ferreira, so that’s a red flag, but overall I think you have to give him the edge heading into this fight. As far as the odd go, I do expect Nijem to be around 2-to-1 for this fight, but considering the state of his chin, who knows, maybe Holbrook comes out and pulls a Brian Ortega and gets the knockout. I do lean towards Nijem due to his wrestling advantage, but he’s not really someone to be trusted with your money at this point.
