The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA tomorrow night (April 4, 2015) for the third time in promotion history with UFC Fight Night 63, which will be headlined by a five round main event contest between top featherweights Chad “Money” Mendes and Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas. The main card action will kick off with six scheduled bouts at 1pm ET on FOX Sports 1, with a four-fight preliminary card preceding it on the same channel at 11am ET. If interested in wagering on this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Here are my preliminary card plays for UFC Fight Night 63 in Virginia: Women’s Bantamweight bout: Lauren Murphy (+100) vs Liz Carmouche (-110) Fight Prediction: Murphy has the better Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game and Carmouche possesses the superior wrestling skills, so things could be competitive on the mat and ultimately result in a chess match. On the feet, I give the striking edge to Murphy, and I think she will find success in keeping the fight on the feet for two out of three rounds of action en route to picking up a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ scorecards. Carmouche may find success scoring a takedown or two, but I don’t think she will be able do do enough to secure more than one round in this contest. When she gets her opponents down, Carmouche is very powerful from top position on the mat. That said, when Murphy finds herself on her back, she generally does an excellent job of working her way back to her feet. In short, I expect the former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion to earn her first UFC victory over Carmouche. I think she will get the better of Carmouche on the feet, but I would not be surprised to see her go for takedowns of her, as I think she could also find success on the mat, if able to put Carmouche on her back. Gabe’s Call: Murphy by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Murphy (+100) 3u to win 3u Lightweight bout: Alexander Yakovlev (-125) vs Gray Maynard (+115) Fight Prediction: I still don’t think Josh Koscheck is a “done” or “shot” fighter, but I do believe Maynard’s best Octagon days are long behind him. I think the TJ Grant should have been the straw that broke the camels back, but instead of hanging up the gloves then and there, he went on to suffer two more T/KO’s, which came against Nate Diaz and Ross Pearson. Like Grant, neither Diaz nor Pearson are knockout artists. (some might say Pearson is, but really, who has he knocked out that wasn’t on a decline?) Point of the matter is, Maynard has been getting rocked into a state of daze and confusion by fighters who would have not been able to hurt him so badly a few years ago. It makes me sad to see Maynard still fighting, especially after listening to him talk in interviews. He doesn’t think he is close to retiring, yet all the TKO’s have already caught up with him. He slurrs many words and stutters quite a bit, it is quite heart breaking to see and hear. For an example of what I’m talking about, watch MMA OddsBreaker’s Frank Trigg interview Maynard. To conclude, I would not be surprised to see Maynard wrestle his way to a decision, but I think Yakovlev is eventually gonna touch that faded chin of his and put him away. I think even a fighter like Yakovlev who isn’t a knockout artist will be able to put him away, just as Pearson, Diaz, Grant and Frankie Edgar have. Edgar started it off, and I think Yakovlev ends it. I do hope Maynard calls it quits and sails into the sunset after this one. Win or lose. Gabe’s Call: Yakovlev by T/KO (punches, 1:57 round 1)) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Yakovlev (-125) 3.75u to win 3u
