UFC Macao is here one week after UFC 170 took place. It’s a very small card with only a few interesting fights, but I’m on a roll so I’m still going to be picking a couple winners below.
The roll I’m talking about is from my 3 UFC 170 victories. In reality every one of the wins was pretty obvious, but it’s still good to continue to pick winners and pad my MMA betting record for the season.
Rousey won her fight with ease, Cormier got the finish I expected of him and MacDonald was able to fight back in the second and third rounds to take the decision victory.
2014 Record: 10-3 for +7 units.
Dong Hyun Kim vs John Hathaway
Dong Hyun Kim is one of the top welterweight fighters in the world and he is finally headlining a UFC event. Kim’s only two losses in the UFC have come to Carlos Condit and Demian Maia, two of the top welterweight fighters in the world, with the Maia fight actually being stopped dude to Kim suffering a muscle cramp in the first round. Since that cramp Kim has defeated three very strong fighters including knocking out Erick Silva in October of last year. Kim is able to fight near his home country of South Korea with this UFC event taking place in Macau. Kim actually beat Paulo Thiago in Macau in November of 2012, so we know the location should be an advantage.
John Hathaway has been in the UFC since January of 2009 and in that time he has won 7 fights, with his only loss coming to Mike Pyle at UFC 120. That said, even with all of these wins Hathaway’s opponents have not improved because each of his last 6 fights have gone to decision. Hathaway has not fought since September of 2012, but he finally has a big name opponent in front of him. A win over Kim will put Hathaway on the map in the UFC welterweight division.
All of that said, we still really don’t know what to expect from Hathaway because he hasn’t fought any of the best. I personally think Kim will have the advantage in this fight and if he can’t finish he should still be able to pull out a decision victory over Hathaway.
Take Dong Hyun Kim -350 @ BetOnline
Matt Mitrione vs Shawn Jordan
The Mitrione vs Jordan fight is one that really interests me on this card. Mitrione is coming off a loss to fellow TUF alumni Brendan Schaub at UFC 165. He has now lost 3 of his last 4 fights and may be on the brink of being cut from the UFC. Shawn Jordan is also coming off a quick loss to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 166 and he will have to win another couple fights to once again get a shot against a top heavyweight fighter.
One thing is almost for sure. These two will bang it out and someone is going to get finished.
Mitrione’s last 3 wins have come via knockout, with only 1 of his 6 UFC victories going the distance. Jordan has also earned a knockout in his last 3 wins, and only has one decision victory out of his 15 MMA wins. I think this one could go either way with one punch ending the fight for either guy.
I like Mitrione as a small underdog in this one. He has more to lose than Jordan and his 3 recent losses have all been against recognizable names in heavyweight, so they don’t necessarily indicate a decline in ability for Mitrione.
Take Mitrione +110.
Dong Hyun Kim • John Hathaway • Matt Mitrione • Shawn Jordan