There were four new UFC fights announced today, and all of them will be pretty popular bets when the fights go down. First, a lightweight matchup between Melvin Guillard and Mac Danzig was announced today by the UFC for the upcoming UFC on FOX 8 card, which takes place at KeyArena in Seattle, WA, on July 27. This is the first fight announced for that FOX card, which is expected to be headlined by UFC flyweight champion and Washington native Demetrious Johnson against John Moraga. It’s also expected that the loser of Guillard vs. Danzig will be cut, as each fighter is on a losing skid. Guillard (30-12-2, 1 NC)has lost four of his last five fights, while Danzig (21-10-1) has lost three of his last five. Yes, both fighters are always exciting, but the fact of the matter is fighters need to win to stay in the UFC and neither of these guys have been doing that lately. Guillard in particular has been in the news as he recently left the Blackzilians training camp and found refuge at Team Grudge. Everyone knows how talented Guillard is, but he’s always been so inconsistent, so for his sake hopefully the move to Team Grudge is helpful because he desperately needs a win here. As for Danzig, he is coming off a “Fight of the Night” split decision loss to Takanori Gomi at UFC on FUEL TV 6, but the former TUF winners needs to start winning fights again or else he will be released. Expect Guillard to open up as a favorite in the -150 range despite his recent losing skid, with the comeback on Danzig being around +120. Assuncao vs. Lee Slated For UFC on FUEL TV 10 TATAME.com today reported a bantamweight bout between top-15 ranked Raphael Assuncao (according to the MMA Fighter Rankings) and Vaughan Lee. The fight will take place at UFC on FUEL TV 10, which goes down June 8 in Fortaleza, Brazil. This should be a good fight but Assuncao (18-4) probably deserves a higher-ranked opponent after his recent win over Mike Easton, while Lee (13-8-1) squeaked past Motonobu Tezuka at UFC on FUEL TV 7. As such, expect Assuncao to open as a heavy favorite of perhaps -275, with the comeback on Lee being +225. Pague vs. Jabouin Set For UFC 161 Another bantamweight bout has been booked, as UFC Canada today announced that Dustin Pague and Yves Jabouin will square off at the upcoming UFC 161 card, which is set for June 16 at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Both fighters are coming off losses and it’s likely this is a loser-leaves town match, which should motivate both fighters to put on a good show. Jabouin (18-8) will have home-field advantage in this fight as he’s fighting in his native Canada and he should have the striking advantage, but Pague (11-7) should have the ground game advantage. As such, expect this to be a close line when it opens, with Jabouin being perhaps +130 and Pague around even money. Alcantara vs. Santos Added to UFC on FX 8 And yet another bantamweight fight has been inked as Yuri Alcantara will fight Iliarde Santos at UFC on FX 8, which takes place May 18 at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil. Santos is an injury replacement for Marcus Vinicious, who had to pull out of the fight with an injury. Globo Sportv first reported the news. This is a pretty big mismatch. Yes, Santos (27-6-1, 1 NC) has a very good record, but Alcantra (27-4, 1 NC) has been fighting UFC-level competition for a few years now and he even has a KO win over Ricardo Lamas from his WEC days. His last fight may read as a No Contest, but anyone who saw that fight knows he should have got a TKO victory over Pedro Nobre. Santos, on the other hand, is a nobody. Expect Alcantara top open around -500, with Santos being around +400 or so.
