UFC Fight Night Nashville: Swanson vs Lobov Betting Picks

Last weeks Fight Night card in Kansas City delivered on every level.  Demetrious Johnson looked as good as ever to tie Anderson Silva’s record for title defenses and we also had a couple fighters knocking on the door of a title shot with Rose Namajunas submitting Michele Waterson and Robert Whittaker destroying Jacare Souza en route to a TKO win.

This week’s fight night event in Nashville isn’t as solid on paper as last weeks in KC, but it still has some decent fights.  The main event leaves a lot to be desired though because Artem Lobov doesn’t deserve to be in the same cage as Cub Swanson, let alone headlining the card.  Outside of that strange main event fight though there are some other solid fights on the card such as the return of Al Iaquinta against Diego Sanchez, John Dodson vs Eddie Wineland and Jake Ellenberger set to throw bombs against Mike Perry.

The Fight Pass prelims will start at 6:30pm for this card and the Fight Network prelims at 8pm EST.  The main card then takes place on TSN5 starting at 10pm and with 6 fights scheduled on the main card this event could go late into the evening.  If this is your first time betting on a UFC event be sure to check out our UFC betting information page for Canadians.  You’ll learn about the various bets you can make and also the best sportsbooks for betting on MMA as a Canadian.

I’ll be using the best odds being offered from any of our recommended bookies for each of my picks on this card.

Cub Swanson vs Artem Lobov

As I mentioned in the intro, Artem Lobov does not deserve to be in the same cage as Cub, and is only getting this shot based on his association with Conor McGregor.  Swanson is coming off a huge win over an actual top prospect in Doo Ho Choi and should be taking another step towards the divisions elite, but instead is taking a big step back.

Cub is the kind of fighter who will only lose to the very elite.  His only losses in the UFC or WEC have come against Max Holloway, Frankie Edgar, Ricardo Lamas, Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo and Jens Pulver.  Those are the elite of the elite in the featherweight division.  In that same span he’s 14-6 in the WEC and UFC with wins over solid names such as Ross Pearson, CHarles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, Dennis Siver (when he was decent), Jeremy Stephens and most recently Doo Ho Choi.  The guy is a beast and he’s only dropped one fight in his career where he was the favourite and that was against Max Holloway who is now fighting for the title.

Lobov is 13-12 in his MMA career and his only win over a remotely notable fighter was in his last fight against Teruto Ishihara who looked almost disinterested in the fight.  People say Lobov has these heavy hands, but he actually hasn’t knocked an opponent out since 2014 in a professional bout, winning his last two by decision.

This is as much of a slam dunk as you will find in MMA.

Play: Swanson 1.17

Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs Ovince Saint Preux

I think people are starting to realize that OSP really isn’t a great fighter and was instead the result of a hype train thanks to a couple knockouts over fighters with weak chins.  OSP is now on a 3 fight losing streak and he did not look good at all in his last two fights against Jimi Manuwa and Volkan Oezdemir.

De Lima is coming off a solid TKO win over Jeremy Kimball, who is a game fighter even though he was a newcomer to the UFC.  As long as De Lima can avoid some of OSP’s unorthodox submission attempts I think he will be the more busy fighter and the guy with more weapons to finish this fight.

Play: De Lima 2.50

Jake Ellenberger vs Mike Perry

Ellenberger pulled off a TKO win over Matt Brown a couple fights back, which gave life to his faltering UFC career.  He then followed that up with a strange TKO loss to Jorge Masvidal, where his foot got stuck in the cage.  That was a freak loss, but I’m pretty sure the loss was inevitable in that one.  Ellenberger still has a decent chin, but I don’t think it’s as strong as Mike Perry’s and I think this will be a case of which chin holds up because I expect these guys to meet in the middle and sling leather.  Mike Perry will move forward this entire fight and if he finds a home for his hands, which I think he will, it could very well be lights out for Ellenberger.

I think Ellenberger’s only way to win this fight is either by somehow getting Perry to the mat or getting an early knockout of his own.  I don’t expect Ellenberger to be able to pick Perry apart from distance like Jouban did and when Perry gets inside that is Mike Perry’s world.

Play: Perry 1.57

Those are my 3 top plays for this card.

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