Coming off an amazing UFC 206 event in Toronto, the UFC has once again put together a very solid Fox card. The main event is Paige VanZant vs Michelle Waterson, but it’s really the other three main card fights (Northcutt vs Gall, Faber vs Pickett and Perry vs Jouban) that I’m most excited about.
As always I’m going to be using the odds from BetOnline.ag for this article. Here’s our full BetOnline review for you to check out if you’re interested in opening an account and placing some bets.
Paige VanZant vs Michelle Waterson
It’s interesting that this if the main event of this card because it’s without a doubt the fight I’m looking foward to least of these 4 main card fights. That said, I understand that the UFC is still trying to push Paige as a star and capitalise on her stint on Dancing With The Stars.
Turning to the fight, I do think Paige will win this fight. I simply think she will come into the cage as the significantly bigger fighter than Waterson, who was the 105 pound champ in Invicta. Paige will likely try to strike with Waterson early and if that doesn’t work she will return to her pressure fulled bullying style that has served her well in the past. There are simply more ways for Paige to win this fight, which is why I think she pulls this out even if Michelle is the better striker.
Play: VanZant -125
Sage Northcutt vs Mickey Gall
The Mickey Gall hype train is in full effect right now. His hype is even resulting in him coming into this fight as a favourite, which I think is ridiculous. I actually do think Gall is the real deal, but we really have absolutely nothing to base that on yet. He’s 3-0 in his MMA career and he has yet to fight a guy with a professional MMA win. In fact, the guys he fought are even below .500 in amateur fights. Yes, he’s looked impressive in these fights, but his competition was simply not there. We really have absolutely 0 relative in cage data to know how he will compete in this fight with a legitimate MMA fighter.
Sage was hyped big time by the UFC coming out of Looking For A Fight and he largely lived up to the hype until his last two fights where he lost via submission to Bryan Barbarena (who just knocked off another top prospect so maybe he’s just the real deal himself) and an unimpressive decision win over Enrique Marin in his last fight. That said, Sage is still 8-1 in his MMA career and 3-1 in the UFC. He’s fought real fighters, which is something Gall cannot say.
Northcutt has really been working on his takedown defense and if he can keep this fight standing you have to give him the edge. Gall did go to Montreal to train at Tristar for 3 weeks preparing for this fight, which definitely will give him some insight into Sage’s ability, but I really don’t know how good Gall is. I might be reading into this next big a little too much, but I don’t feel like his coaches talk him up as much as they would if he was the real deal. They seem to simply think he’s an above average fighter who found a shortcut to the big times. He may be in for a rude awakening against Sage.
Play: Northcutt +120
Brad Pickett vs Urijah Faber
This is Faber’s retirement fight and he’s matched up against an opponent who is far lower in quality than the guys he usually fights, which really sets him up to go out on top. Faber has stagnated in his development as a mixed martial artist, but he’s still able to beat guys not at the top of the division and Pickett definitely falls into that category. Pickett has lost 4 of his past 5 fights himself, with the win being a split decision in his home town. He’s getting up there in age and I don’t think he will have much for Faber, who should be able to complete the nice story of a win in his retirement fight at home.
Play: Faber -450
Alan Jouban vs Mike Perry
I really like Platinum Perry in this fight. I think he’s the real deal after showing a ton in his wins over Lim and Roberts. Perry comes at you hard and throws everything with the intention of finishing the fight.
Jouban is a more technical fighter, but I just don’t think he matches up well with the moving forward throwing bombs style of Perry. Jouban is coming off a win over Belal Muhammad in a fight I see some similarities with this one. Muhammad was down 2-0 on the scorecards and in the third he just started moving forward throwing bombs and he was landing them looking very good. One judge even gave Muhammad a 10-8 in round 3. That’s exactly what Perry will do from the get go and I don’t see Jouban having an answer.
Play: Perry -135
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