After two weeks with no UFC events, I for one am eager for UFC 210 this weekend. Daniel Cormier vs Anthony Johnson for the light heavyweight belt is a solid main event, especially because it’s a fight that truly could go either way. The other big fight on this card is Chris Weidman vs Gegard Mousasi. Overall, the card isn’t very deep for a pay-per-view event, but I’m still excited and I see plenty of good fights for betting on the card.
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.
Daniel Cormier vs Anthony Johnson
This fight has had close a pick’em line since it opened a few weeks back. The thinking seems to be that either Johnson can land a knockout blow in round 1, or else Cormier takes over later in the bout like he did in fight #1 and grinds out a victory. I have to say I completely agree with these thoughts. Johnson was close to finishing Cormier in their first fight, but Cormier was able to survive and eventually grind out a rear-naked choke victory over a gassed out Johnson in round 3.
The second question is about how the fighters have improved or regressed since that fight, which took place almost two years ago. There is talk that Cormier may have regressed based on his underwhelming performance against Anderson Silva, but I don’t buy that argument because he had to fight Silva on a days notice, which surely affected Cormier’s game plan and mindset. With Johnson there is not talk of him regressing after 3 huge knockout wins over the next best in the division in Manuwa, Bader and Teixeira.
I’m going to have to lean towards Daniel Cormier in this fight. I think his intelligence will play a factor in this fight and as long as his durability is still there and he can take one or two solid shots from Johnson, I think he will be able to close the distance, tire our Johnson and then get another late stoppage like he did in their first fight.
That said, this is not a confident pick because a flush shot from Johnson will put out anybodies lights.
Play: Cormier +100
Gegard Mousasi vs Chris Weidman
Weidman has now lost two straight and everyone is saying he’s regressed. I don’t agree with the fact that he’s regressed, I would instead argue that he was never that good. His title run was simply him beating old Brazilians who were far past their prime in Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort. Once he started to face that actual best in the division he was dominated by Luke Rockhold and knocked out by Yoel Romero.
In this fight, Mousasi will have a significant advantage on the feet and I don’t think Weidman will be able to get Mousasi to the ground. If you watch Weidman’s fights he actually doesn’t have an easy time employing his wrestling in his fights. I expect Mousasi to stuff Weidman’s takedowns and easily out land him on the feet. Mousasi has 3 KO or TKO finishes in a row and if he can land a flush shot against Weidman he could finish him with ground and pound as well.
Play: Mousasi -130
Pearl Gonzalez vs Cynthia Calvillo
Calvillo made it look easy against Amanda Cooper at UFC 209. I didn’t know what to expect in that fight and was actually high on Cooper, but Calvillo took her down with ease. Calvillo is fighting out of Team Alpha Male and I expect her to rise through the straw weight division very quickly with her very solid grappling.
To be honest, I don’t know much about Pearl Gonzalez, but looking at her wins her record has definitely been aided by facing some weak competition. She hasn’t faced a fighter with a winning record in her last four outings. She does have a win over UFC fighter Cortney Casey back in 2013, but that was 4 years ago and facing such weak competition since then it’s hard to think she’s improved very much.
Calvillo impressed me a lot in her win over Cooper and I think Gonzalez is a step backwards in competition so we should once again see a dominant performance.
Play: Calvillo -250
Will Brooks vs Charles Oliveira
I’m still high on the former Bellator champion Will Brooks. He is coming off a loss to Alex Oliveira back in October, but he was fighting through a rib injury in that fight and it eventually caught up to him in the third. I do still think that Brooks is a top 5 fighter in the lightweight division and a win over Charles Oliveira will be a good first step to proving that.
Oliveira is on a two fight losing streak himself, with guillotine choke losses to Pettis and Lamas in his last two bouts. The thing about Oliveira though is that he only seems to lose to top fighters with losses on his record to Cerrone, Swanson, Edgar and Holloway in addition to Pettis and Lamas. That said, I do think Brooks is in that category and should be able to get the best of Oliveira in this fight.
Play: Brooks -260
Other Picks
- Usman -350