UFC 206 is headed to Toronto this Saturday with a card that most people would agree would make a very good Fight Night event, but is somewhat lacking when it comes to pay-per-view. The card lost the main event when Daniel Cormier had to pull out of his title fight with Anthony Johnson due to injury. The UFC’s response to this was to strip Conor McGregor of his featherweight belt, bump Jose Aldo up to champion and bump the Holloway vs Pettis fight up to an interim title fight in order to try to salvage some interest. For me personally that fight was already extremely interesting and it was without a doubt a title eliminator fight, so changing it to an interim title fight doesn’t change anything for me except the winner will get a meaningless belt. It’s a strange move for sure, but I’m still excited for that fight and there are some other high profile fights on this card as well that will surely make it extremely interesting including Cerrone vs Brown, Swanson vs Choi, Gastelum vs Kennedy and Krylov vs Cirkunov.
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.
Max Holloway vs Anthony Pettis
Holloway has deserved a title shot for a long time. He’s on a ridiculous 9 fight winning streak and has beaten featherweight contenders Lamas, Stephens, Oliveira and Swanson in his last four fights. He’s basically been cleaning his way through the division while working towards this title shot. If he beats Anthony Pettis, which I expect him to do, there will actually only be Aldo and then possibly Edgar that this guy has yet to face (and beat).
Pettis gets this interim shot based on his name and the fact he used to be the lightweight title holder in the UFC. That said, Pettis lost his last 3 fights at lightweight (dos Anjos, Alvarez, Barboza) before dropping down to 145 and squeaking out a third round submission win over Charles Oliveira in a fight he was actually probably losing. His title win and his title defense at lightweight were against Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez, both guys who have proven to be very beatable at this point in their careers. His biggest win was actually probably over Donald Cerrone who he dropped with a liver kick way back in January of 2013.
I think the book is out on Pettis and Holloway should be able to outwork him on his way to a decisive decision in this fight. I’m excited for a Holloway win as well because it means Aldo will have to stop running from him.
Play: Holloway -175
Donald Cerrone vs Matt Brown
Cerrone is the picture of consistency in the UFC. He’s won 11 of his last 12, mostly against very big names, but for some reason he still seems to be underrated in the UFC, which is likely because of how devastating the one loss was in that span, to Rafael dos Anjos. The guy fights a ton and he seems to get better every time he’s out there. This will likely be one of his easier fights because he’s up against a guy who is on the downswing of his career. Brown has lost 4 of his last 5 including a recent TKO loss to Jake Ellenberger, who has just 2 wins in his last 8.
Cerrone is better everywhere than Matt Brown and as long as he avoids a solid body shot I think he will have no trouble dismantling the veteran Brown.
Play: Cerrone -250
Cub Swanson vs Doo Ho Choi
This is a very interesting fight for me. Choi has absolutely destroyed everyone the UFC has put in front of him with first round finishes. He’s a dynamic fighter, but he’s yet to even face a ranked UFC opponent and he’s jumping all the way up to the #4 ranked Swanson who we need to remember is 8-2 in his last 10 with the only losses in that span to Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar. The guy is a veteran who simply doesn’t lose to guys ranked below him. Wins over Jeremy Stephens, Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira prove that.
Swanson is a fairly big dog for how large a step up in competition this is for Choi. I’m going to toss some cash down on Swanson and expect that the vet can figure out his young, raw opponent.
Play: Swanson +190
Kelvin Gastelum vs Tim Kennedy
I was very disappointed we didn’t get to see Kelvin Gastelum fight Donald Cerrone at UFC 205, but Kelvin missing weight may have actually somewhat saved this Toronto card because now we get Gastelum vs Kennedy and Cerrone vs Brown to help build the main card here in Canada. I’m also somewhat glad that Gastelum will be forced to fight at middleweight for the foreseeable future. He’s actually undefeated at middleweight and I would argue that his best performances have come at 185 pounds.
I expect more of the same out of him against Kennedy this Saturday. Kennedy has been off for 2 years and getting up there in age I’m unsure how dedicated he is to the sport anymore. He’s always talking in interviews about his other business ventures and now you see him on the board of the MMAAA. I just wonder how focused he is for this fight.
In reality I think this fight could go either way. Gastelum is often in very close fights, as is Kennedy. This may come down to the judges, and when it can go either way, I’m taking the underdog every time.
Play: Gastelum +130
Nikita Krylov vs Misha Cirkunov
The featured fight on the free Fox Sports 1 portion of the card is between two highly touted Light Heavyweight prospects in Krylov and Cirkunov. Both of these guys know how to finish fights in a variety of ways, but I give the stand up to Krylov and would have to give the advantage to Cirkunov if the fight hit the mat. That said, I think Krylov should be able to land some significant strikes on Cirkunov with this fight starting on the feet. Misha is a bit of a laboured striker who really just uses this jab to set up the clinch in an attempt to get the fight to the floor. Krylov has a much more varied striking style and he throws everything with the intention of finishing the fight.
Play: Krylov +100
UFC 206 • ufc betting • ufc picks