October was not a very eventful month in the UFC, but these next few months have me very excited. We kick things off with a fairly modest Fight Night card this Saturday, but then things take off and I can say I know what I’m doing with most of my Saturday nights for the next few months.
This card has three fights that have me genuinely interested. The main event of Belfort vs Henderson will surely be entertaining, even if it is between a couple of has-beens. Teixeira and Cummins is another good fight, but I think Cummins may be taking too big a jump in competition in this one. The other fight I’m genuinely excited about is to see if Thomas Almeida can continue his remarkable knockout streak on his way up the Bantamweight rankings.
I’m definitely getting some DraftKings.com lineups in for this card. After looking at the prices there are a few fighters that are undervalued. Namely guys from the main 3 fights, so you’ll find out quickly who will be in my DraftKings lineups this Saturday in this article.
Click here to see the prices and enter your own DraftKings.com MMA lineup…
Vitor Belfort vs Dan Henderson
Belfort was absolutely destroyed by Chris Weidman at UFC 187, but let’s not forget that Weidman is on another level in the Middleweight division. I never gave Belfort a chance in that fight, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still a top 5 Middleweight in the world. He did have finishes over Henderson, Rockhold and Bisping in his previous 3 fights. I don’t think the same can be said about Dan Henderson, who had lost 5 of 6 before his big KO win over Tim Boetsch.
As I just mentioned Belfort finished Dan Henderson in the first round in Belfort’s last win with a devastating head kick. This was two years ago and even though Belfort isn’t quite the beast he was back then I still think his speed and movement will overwhelm Henderson.
The only way I see Hendo winning this fight is if he can fend off the initial barrage from Belfort and find a way to get his own KO later in the fight. That’s how Hendo could win, but I don’t see this happening. Belfort will find a way to land with one of his weapons and it will end with Henderson’s lights out once again.
Belfort is priced at $10,800 at DraftKings.com and I’m going to have a lot of him, expecting a first round KO.
Play: Belfort -350 @ BetOnline.ag
Patrick Cummins vs Glover Teixeira
Teixeira regained my respect with a dominant performance over up and comer Ovince St. Preux in his last fight. Before that I had lost some belief in him after he was absolutely dummied for 5 rounds by Jon Jones and then out wrestled by Phil Davis. That said I see Davis as one of the best Light Heavyweights in the world, and see it as unfortunate that the UFC doesn’t accept fighters who get the job done without knockouts, but that’s an argument for another time. I’m back to being a believer in Glover.
Cummins finished off Rafael Cavalcante in his last fight, which put him back on the right track after his KO loss to OVP. Cummins is a beast, but he hasn’t fought anyone close to the level of Teixeira. Cummins will not finish the fight, so he’s going to have to be very careful this entire fight to not get caught with a KO blast from Glover who has bombs for hands. I think it is possible for Cummins to take control of this fight with wrestling. He may be able to win via decision, but I will be surprised if Glover doesn’t catch him and do enough damage to finish the fight.
Teixeira is $11,000 at DraftKings.com. I will probably have shares of Teixeira even though I don’t think the first round finish is as big of a slam dunk as Belfort. I won’t be touching Cummins because I can’t see him finishing Glover.
Play: Teixeira -450 @ BetOnline.ag
Anthony Birchak vs Thomas Almeida
I saw Almeida live at UFC 189. He finished Brad Pickett with a flying knee in the second round after Pickett probably had the better of him to that point in the fight. This guy is just so dangerous and explosive that he can finish the fight from anywhere. I like him to continue his dominance and stay in Dana’s good books with another finish this Saturday.
Birchak is a strong prospect in his own respect, but I just don’t think his opponents have been at the same level as Almeida’s recent opponents. When the UFC is high on someone it’s usually for good reason and they’re high on Almeida right now.
Almeida costs $10,900 at DraftKings.com and I will be on him hoping for another highlight reel finish.
Play: Almeida -420 @ BetOnline.ag
Be sure to check back next week for more articles on the huge UFC 193 card we have coming up.
Henderson vs Belfort • ufc betting • UFC Fight Night