UFC Fight Night 80 Date: December 10, 2015 Arena: The Chelsea City: Las Vegas, NV The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be live from Las Vegas, NV on Thursday, December 10 with UFC Fight Night 80: Namajunas vs Van Zant. The stacked 11 fight card kicks off a three-card UFC weekend and will be live entirely on UFC Fight Pass, with the main card getting going 10pm ET and preliminary action preciding it at 6:45pm ET. If interested in wagering on any plays for this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. My preliminary card Over/Under Totals for UFC Fight Night 80 are: Welterweight bout: Omari Akhmedov (-140) vs Sergio Moraes (+120) Gabe’s Thoughts: If the same Akhmedov that beat Brian Ebersole shows up Thursday night, it’s hard to see him not beating Moraes. If the Dagestani is on top of his game, I don’t think the Brazilian will find success in taking the fight to the mat, which many agree is his only hope at getting his hand raised. Akhmedov looked stronger than ever his last time out, defeating Ebersole via TKO and sending the veteran into retirement with the bitter swan song. If he shows up with his A game, I think he manages to T/KO Moraes early, and if he does not but Moraes shows up on top of his game, I think he will find an early takedown and secure a submission. To conclude, I think this welterweight scrap ends early more often than not, and at the current underdog tag of +160, I like the Total of Under 1.5 rounds for a play. Gabe’s Call: Akhmedov by T/KO (strikes, 3:14 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Under 1.5 rounds (+160) 2u to win 3.2u Welterweight bout: Nathan Coy (+135) vs Danny Roberts (-155) Gabe’s Thoughts: Roberts is the superior striker heading into this 170-pound contest and will look to outstrike Coy on the feet. He will be looking to put the Bellator veteran away from the opening bell. Coy’s job here will be to survive Roberts’ blows, especially in the first round, and use his superior grappling to take the fight to the mat and out-grind the Brit. I see his veteran expertise paying off in this contest, as I think he will outgrind Roberts for a decision win on the judges’ cards. Both fighters will be making their promotional debuts in this contest, though it is Coy getting the short notice all, with his training partner Michael Graves (at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL) pulling out of the bout due to injury. Even if Roberts manages to get his hand raised in this contest, I think it either comes via early knockout or a hard-fought decision, so rather than taking Coy straight up at +135, I think taking the Total of Over 2.5 rounds at +110 is the safer and smarter play, as I think Roberts also has a decent chance of winning this fight on the judges’ scorecards, in which instance we would still cash our tickets. Gabe’s Call: Coy by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Over 2.5 rounds (+115) 4u to win 4.6u
