WSOF 24 Date: October 17, 2015 Arena: Foxwoods Resort Casino City: Mashantucket, CT The World Series of Fighting (WSOF) returns with WSOF 24: Fitch vs Okami. The event will feature 12 bouts in its entirety, including a seven-fight preliminary card to stream live on the promotion’s website at 7pm ET and a five-fight main card to get going on the NBC Sports Network at 9pm ET. If interested in wagering on these plays, or any plays for this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Here are my live dogs for WSOF 24: Light Heavyweight bout: Matt Hamill (+220) vs Vinny Magalhaes (-280) Gabe’s Thoughts: I think the betting odds for this 205-pound contest are off and the Brazilian is being seriously over-valued. The only way I see him winning this fight is if he catches Hamill in a submission, and while the chances of that happening are decent, they don’t warrant a -280 betting line. I do think that is the most likely outcome to this match-up, however I think Hamill winning by either decision or T/KO are nearly as likely. That means Hamill has more routes to victory. I could see him outstriking Maghalaes for three rounds to pick up a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards, or I could see him straight-up knocking Vinny out, considering he has a very soft chin. I could also see Hamill outwrestling Magalhaes and successfully defending his submission attempts en route to a unanimous nod. I think this light heavyweight bout is a lot closer than the betting odds suggest. I handicap Magalhaes as only a very slight -130 betting favorite, so at these odds I have the pull the trigger on Hamill for a value play, though I’m going to keep it smaller than I normally would on a play with this much potential value. There are too many question marks surrounding Hamill and I don’t trust him enough to go big. This would normally be a fight I would want to avoid betting, but because I disagree with the lines so much, I’m opting to throw a little something on it. Gabe’s Call: Hamill by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Hamill (+220) 1u to win 2.2u Middleweight bout: Louis Taylor (-145) vs Nicolai Salchov (+115) Gabe’s Thoughts: While Salchov is the less experienced fighter, I think he is the better fighter and think he will successfully get past Taylor, who is arguably his toughest opposition to date. I think Salchov is going to be too much for Taylor, as I see him wearing the veteran down and likely securing a TKO stoppage along the way. If he fails to find the finish within 15 minutes of action, I think he will take all three rounds on the judges’ scorecards, unanimously. I expect Salchov to get his hand raised this evening and remain undefeated. With a good performance, he will likely be given a main card spot for his next WSOF outing. Gabe’s Call: Salchov by TKO (punches, 2:38 round 2) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Salchov (+115) 3u to win 3.45u
