With Bellator’s eighth season coming to a close last week, AXS TV fights will step back in to its familiar role of setting the table for the weekend to come in MMA. On tap this Friday, the channel will have Texas’ pre-eminent promotion, Legacy Fighting Championships and their 19th card. Today, MMA Oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the lines for Legacy FC 19 at Several Bookmakers. The card is headlined by a a trio of interesting bouts, as former WEC fighter Will Campuzano defends his Flyweight Title against Allan Nascimento, Georgi Karakhanyan squares off with Din Thomas, and world class BJJ practitioner Robert Drysdale takes on DJ Linderman, in his biggest test to date. Here are the lines: ——————– Flyweight Title (c) Will Campuzano -300 Allan Nascimento +220 Georgi Karakhanyan -280 Din Thomas +200 Robert Drysdale -215 DJ Linderman +165 Matt Hobar -260 Nelson Salas +180 Steven Peterson -275 George Pacurariu +195 Chris Jones -275 Rey Trujillo +195 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: Will Campuzano is a huge step up for the undefeated Allan Nascimento, and holds an enormous striking advantage in this fight. Nascimento is the better grappler of the two, but Campuzano has improved that aspect of his game and has looked extremely impressive since dropping to 125lbs. Perhaps another stoppage here will punch his ticket back to Zuffa where he can continue to put on the fun fights he became known for in the WEC. To me, the long odds are warranted in this bout, and Campuzano may even be worthy of a spot in a parlay. Georgi Karakhanyan may be the best Featherweight in the world who doesn’t have a UFC or Bellator contract, and rumours abound that he may be on his way to the UFC with a win over longtime veteran Din Thomas. At this stage in their careers, Karakhanyan seems to be the far superior fighter and again is likely to win. Finally, Robert Drysdale is once again a solid favorite in his burgeoning MMA career. However, unlike his previous bouts, he is facing a legitimate MMA fighter in DJ Linderman. Drysdale is light years ahead of Linderman on the ground, but this isn’t a Jiu-Jitsu competition and Linderman will have a massive striking advantage. The question here is if Drysdale can drag this to the mat, and if he cannot he will be in big trouble. If you’re confident in Linderman’s defensive wrestling, a bet on the underdog could be in order here. Legacy FC 19 can been seen live on AXS TV on Friday night.
