The UFC continues a busy July with another Fight Night card, this time heading to San Antonio, Texas. The main event is a great fight between RDA and Leon Edwards that could be a factor in how things shake down in the welterweight division. In addition to this there are three solid heavyweight fights on the main card, as well as a couple lightweight tilts between recognizable names.
I was able to go three for three with my picks for last weekends card, including two underdogs and a pick’em, so I’m hoping to continue that streak on Saturday. I have three plays below and I will be using the best odds from any of our top rated Canadian betting sites.
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Rafael Dos Anjos vs Leon Edwards
I think that Leon Edwards is one of the most underrated fighters in the welterweight division. He’s won 7 straight fights since a decision loss to the current champion, Kamaru Usman, and that includes wins over killers such as Albert Tumenov, Vicente Luque, Donald Cerrone and Gunnar Nelson. The guy is legit and it’s nice to see he’s finally getting his due being booked at the top of cards against other top fighters.
Edwards as basically a pick’em against RDA is a great bet in my opinion. I still think RDA is overrated as a welterweight. He was a great lightweight, but at welterweight he’s smaller than most of his competitors. Yes, he came into the welterweight division and beat the two most over ranked fighters in Saffiedine and Magny, and then was able to put together a good performance against an aging Robbie Lawler, but we saw what happens when he faces top wrestlers in the division, with both Covington and Usman beating him handily. In his last fight out he fought another former lightweight, so not giving up as much size he was able to look good in the fight against Kevin Lee.
Edwards is a solid wrestler having secured 14 takedowns during his 7 fight winning streak in the UFC. And the maximum in one fight was just 2, which shows he has the ability to takedown most other welterweights. I think he will use his size and wrestling to his advantage, as well as outclass RDA on the feet en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Play: Edwards 1.87 @ SportsInteraction.com
Aleksei Oleinik vs Walt Harris
Oleinik has some of the craziest submissions in UFC heavyweight history. He’s always counted out going into his fights, but he comes forward slinging leather and then often finds a unique submission to secure the victory. Oleinik is 42 years old and constantly overlooked, but I think he has the style to get a win against Harris.
Harris is on a three fight winning streak, but I’ve not been impressed with his opponents. Oleinik will be a step up, and I look at the Fabricio Werdum fight, which saw him get submitted in a minute as a comparable opponent.
Yes, Harris took that fight with Werdum at the last second, so he didn’t have time to practice submission defense, but I still think that Oleinik is so unique and high level with his submission grappling that I see him security a submission at some point in this fight.
Play: Oleinik 2.25 @ SportsInteraction.com
Alexander Hernandez vs Francisco Trinaldo
The Hernandez hype train was obviously not fully derailed by his TKO loss to Donald Cerrone back in January. Yes, Hernandez got a quick KO over Beneil Dariush and looked solid against OAM a year ago, but we really don’t have a huge sample size to anoint him as the next top prospect in the lightweight division.
Trinaldo is getting up there in age at 40 years old, but he still has his power and he’s proven he’s a tough out for anyone in the division. He beat Evan Dunham via TKO in his last fight and he’s gone 9-2 in the UFC wince September of 2014 with his only two losses coming against Kevin Lee and James Vick. Lee was lucky to find a rear-naked choke submission after it was clear that Trinaldo’s power was too much for him, while Vick used his long striking to keep Trinaldo at bay. I think Trinaldo will be able to match Hernadez’s power and wrestling, so I think his experience should be able to lead him to victory and get the Hernandez hype train fully off the tracks.
Play: Trinaldo 2.50 @ SportsInteraction.com
Irene Aldana vs Raquel Pennington
Raquel Pennington fought for the title just over a year ago, going almost all five rounds with Amanda Nunes. Then in November she lost via decision to Germaine de Randamie, who most would say is the second best fighter currently at bantamweight. Two losses to the elite of the division and now Pennington is an underdog on the under card against a fighter whose biggest win is over Bethe Correia.
Pennington is a grinder and I still think she has the ability to get wins over most fighters in the bantamweight division. Aldana was likely losing the fight against Correia before finding the submission in the third and squeaked out a split decision win over Lucie Pudilova in her fight before that. She’s not an elite fighter.
Give me Pennington as the underdog in this fight all day long.
Play: Pennington 2.30
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