Saturday’s most essential event at UFC Fresno is a difficult one to call. Will Brian Ortega announce himself as a decent contender for the UFC featherweight title or will Cub Swanson solidify his spot amongst the best 145-pounders?
I’ll give you my reply along with the possibilities, predictions and DraftKings suggestion for the UFC Fight Night 123 card.
Card, Odds, Predictions, and DraftKings Picks
- Matchup Weight Class Odds Predictions DraftKings
- Antonio Braga Neto vs. Trevin Giles Middleweight Giles -189, Neto +161 Giles by TKO Giles
- Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Davi Ramos Lightweight Ramos -240, Gruetzemacher +205 Ramos by SUB
- Alejandro Perez vs. Iuri Alcantara Males’s Bantamweight Alcantara -208, Perez +165 Alcantara by SUB
- Frankie Saenz vs. Merab Dvalishvili Males’s Bantamweight Dvalishvili -154, Saenz +124 Dvalishvili by TKO
- Carls John De Tomas vs. Alex Perez Males’s Flyweight Perez -270, De Tomas +210 Perez by SUB
- Luke Sanders vs. Andre Soukhamthath Males’s Bantamweight Sanders -278, Soukhamthath +222 Sanders by SUB
- Alexis Davis vs. Liz Carmouche Girls’s Flyweight Carmouche -144, Davis +116 Carmouche by TKO
- Albert Morales vs. Benito Lopez Males’s Bantamweight Lopez -114, Morales -114 Lopez by UD Lopez
- Eryk Anders vs. Markus Perez Middleweight Anders -275, Perez +215 Perez by SUB Perez
- Scott Holtzman vs. Darrell Horcher Lightweight Horcher -129, Holtzman +101 Holtzman by UD Holtzman
- Marlon Moraes vs. Aljamain Sterling Males’s Bantamweight Moraes -169, Sterling +141 Moraes by UD
- Jason Knight vs. Gabriel Benitez Males’s Featherweight Knight -268, Benitez +212 Knight by SUB Knight
- Cub Swanson vs. Brian Ortega Males’s Featherweight Swanson -130, Ortega -110 Swanson by UD Swanson
The Upset Explicit
Eryk Anders is a bodily specimen with fight-ending vitality. In his UFC debut, he smashed veteran Rafael Natal with a correct crushing hand to grab the KO victory. In his second wrestle, the undefeated Anders will face one different Brazilian fighter in fellow undefeated warrior Markus Perez.
Anders shouldn’t be merely the favourite to win this wrestle, he’s the second-biggest favorite on the cardboard.
All that acknowledged, I like Perez to emerge victoriously. He is a troublesome counter striker and above-average grappler. Perez will attempt to catch Anders all through, thought of considered one of his mad rushes. Even when he fails to land one factor essential on this event, he fights takedowns properly and may shortly swap from defensive to offensive grappling and submissions.
Lastly, I think about he’ll have the sting in cardio as properly. Seek for a mildly surprising submission or decision win for Perez in his UFC debut.
Why Knight Beats Benitez
This isn’t a wonderful co-main event on paper, nevertheless Gabriel Benitez is a minimal of a fighter who competes with good passion. Sadly for him, that won’t be adequate. Jason Knight is probably going one of many further well-rounded fighters inside the featherweight division.
He has a beautiful chin and equally almost pretty much as good submission talents. Benitez will carry the wrestle to Knight, nevertheless the latter is extra more likely to win this one by means of choke.
It was a difficult decision, nevertheless in the end, I sided with Swanson’s resilience and experience over Ortega’s submission talents and youth. Ortega can usually take too prolonged to get getting in a wrestle and that just about injury him in his ultimate bout in opposition to Renato Moicano.
Ortega was able to protected a highlight-reel submission victory in that wrestle, nevertheless I think about a sluggish start will doom him in opposition to Swanson. Cub might have labored on his submission and takedown safety significantly arduous on this teaching camp and his boxing is among the many many best inside the sport.
I see Swanson worthwhile the inserting battle and preserving the wrestle from going to the underside en path to a name victory.