UFC
Yas Island
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Wednesday, July 15
This will mark the second of four cards put together by Dana White and the UFC in Abu Dhabi. This and next Saturday will conclude the UFC’s trip to the Middle East and will return to Las Vegas. I went 6-2 in my UFC picks on Saturday, so I’ll do my best to do even better than that on Wednesday night.
UFC Picks for Wednesday Night
-140 Jimmy Rivera 22-4
+110 Cody Stamann 19-2-1
-370 Over 2.5 Rounds
+285 Under 2.5 Rounds
Both fighters of recent date have losing to A. Sterling in common. Rivera is only 5’4 and despite his 22-4 record, he has lost three of his last four fights (in June lost to Petr Yan who was great last week in a win). Cody “The Spartan” Stamann has two inches on Rivera and is significantly better when it comes to takedown margin. The over is that high of a spread because in Rivera’s last eight fights, seven have gone the distance and the same holds true with Stamann in six of his last seven battles.
Stamann & Over 2.5 Rounds
-320 Calvin Kettar 21-4
+240 Dan Ige 14-2
Ige really impressed me in his last fight against Edson Barboza in May winning by split decision. Ige has also won 12 of his last 13 fights. Kettar is only 3-2 in his last five fights and is also 0-1 when he is in the headline fight of the night. In November of 2019 he was in that position when he lost to Zabit Magomedsharipov.
Ige
-300 Abdul Razak Alhassan 10-1
+235 Mounir Lazzez 9-1
-185 Under 1.5 Rounds
+140 Over 1.5 Rounds
These two are a combined 19-2 and Lazzez has won seven of his nine fights in either the 1stor 2nd round. All of Ghana native Razak Alhassan’s wins have been by TKO and that includes a 43 second victory over Niko Price. ARA is too strong to pass up here.
Razak Alhassan
-115 Taila Santos 15-1
-115 Molly McCann 10-2 The only thing that has me leaning a certain way is that Santos has a six inch reach and that possibly could be the determining factor at the end of this match.
Santos
-140 Jared Gordon 15-4
+110 Chris Fishgold 18-3-1
Jared Gordon hasn’t been that “flashy” of late, losing three of his four fights and all by TKO. Meanwhile, the underdog Fishgold has won eight of his last ten fights and 13 of his career 18 wins have come by submission.
Fishgold
-165 Diana Belbita 13-5
+135 Liana Jojua 7-3
Diana “The Warrior Princess” Belbita has three inches on Jojua and has a six inch reach on her. In Belbita’s last four wins they have come by TKO or submission. The under may be a nice play here if you are looking for a total, but I’m sticking with Belbita and frankly at -165 it should be a steal.
Belbita
-120 Tim Elliott 16-11-1
-110 Ryan Benoit 10-6
These two don’t have a great combined record and Elliott is a disappointing 6-8 in his last 14 fights. He also was a -180 favorite in his last fight (May of 2020) against youngster Brandon Royval and lost in the second round.
Benoit
-600 Jack Shore 12-0
+425 Aaron Phillips 5-3
Shore comes into this fight undefeated with winning 11 of his 12 fights by TKO or submission. He also has won half of his fights in the first round. Phillips hasn’t had a fight since 2015 and has actually lost three in a row. Shore should be done with Phillips before you can even finish your beverage of choice on Wednesday night.
Shore
-330 Khamzat Chimaev 6-0
+250 John Phillips 22-9
John “The Welsh Wrecking Machine” has been “broken” of late losing three of his last four fights. Chimaev is undefeated and has won all six fights by either TKO or submission.
Chimaev
Here are my Top 10 picks for the UFC card number two in the UAE.
I hope everyone enjoys the fights and cashes winning tickets on Wednesday night. I will have another set of winning plays in my article later this week for the third installment of fights for the UFC from Fight Island on Saturday night.