TUF 23 Finale Date: July 8, 2016 Arena: MGM Grand Garden Arena City: Las Vegas, NV The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be in Las Vegas on Friday, July 8th with The Ultimate Fighter Season 23 Finale, which will be headlined by a women’s strawweight title fight between defending champion Jaonna Jedredzyk and challenger Claudia Gadelha. The main card will be underway at 10pm ET on FOX Sports 1, with preliminary action preceding it on the same channel at 8pm ET and 6:45pm ET on UFC Fight Pass prior to that. 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 plays: Women’s Strawweight bout: Amanda Cooper (+325) vs Tatiana Suarez (-400) Gabe’s Thoughts: I am very confident in Suarez. I picked her to win the tournament from day one and here we are. As long as she avoids getting caught with something dangerous, I do not see her losing this fight; and I think the odds of her getting caught with something dangerous are very slim to zero. I think Suarez should be a -900 betting favorite heading into this match-up, so I’ll bust a rare move and make a massive straight play on a heavy favorite. This is her fight to lose and I will be surprised if she does. Cooper is a game opponent but I think Suarez is on another level and I see her outclassic Cooper. I believe Suarez’s superior grappling will be the difference in this contest, and I think it is 50/50 whether she takes this on the judges’ scorecards or finds a submission along the way. I think Suarez is a future top 5 strawweight and it all starts with a victory over Cooper this evening. Gabe’s Call: Suarez by Submission (rear naked choke, 3:23 round 2) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Suarez (-400) 8u to win 2u Light Heavyweight bout: Andrew Sanchez (-175) vs Khalil Rountree (+155) Gabe’s Thoughts: This is a classic striker vs grappler match-up in which Sanchez will be looking to take the fight to the mat and Rountree will want to keep it standing and best Sanchez on the feet. I think this is a coin-flip fight, so at the betting odds, I have to side with Rountree for a value play. Gabe’s Call: Rountree by T/KO (strikes, 0:37 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Rountree (+155) 1.55u to win 2.4u
