The UFC wraps on another successful UFC Fight Night 171 card on May 13th, 2020, the headline fight result in Glover Teixeira upsetting Anthony Smith in a brutal 5 round beat down win. Coming up this Saturday, May 16th the UFC looks to another big show down on its third event this week with UFC Fight Night 172 “Overeem vs. Harris”.
Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville has been the fight promotion headquarters as it attempts to make up for lost time caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Heavyweight contenders Walt Harris and Alistair Overeem will meet in the main event of the UFC Fight Night card on Saturday with the prelims beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
Before locking in your selections for Fight Night: Harris vs. Overeem, check out the odds at mybookie.ag. Harris is a (-170) favourite but most of the early action we’re seeing is on the underdog Overeem at (+130). In the co-main event, Claudia Gadelha is a (-190) favourite against Angela Hill (+150).
Now, with Harris vs. Overeem fast approaching, we’ve identified some of the best value in the UFC odds and are sharing our top MMA predictions.
The No. 8 Heavyweight ranked Overeem (45-18-1) is one of the most accomplished mixed martial artists in heavyweight history. The 39-year-old is a former kickboxing champion who also has held the Strikeforce and DREAM heavyweight crowns.
His resume includes victories over luminaries like Brock Lesnar, Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt, Frank Mir, Roy Nelson and Junior Dos Santos. But he was turned back in a title shot at UFC 203 in September 2016, suffering a first-round knockout to Stipe Miocic. In his last six UFC bouts half have been split with wins and half losses, with all the defeats coming by KO, TKO stoppage. In his last fight versus Jairzinho Rozenstruik was very disappointing as he was likely ahead on the scorecard only to lose the fight via knockout in the 5th round.
Harris (13-7-1), ranked No. 9, started his UFC career with a 3-4 mark after losing his debut with the promotion in January 2014. The 36-year-old Alabama native appears to be a late bloomer, as he has gone 3-0-1 in his last four bouts, with those wins coming by early stoppage.
Harris won both of his bouts in 2019, scoring knockouts of Sergey Spivak and Aleksei Oleinik. He received Performance of the Night bonuses for both showings. Harris is a predictable stand-up striker and will back his opponent into a corner and will hammer them. We expect Overeem to keep his distance and use his superior kickboxing skills to keep a distance. Hard to see this fight going more than 2 rounds with all this powerful stand-up. Overeem has an advantage in skill and experience and the dog price gets our check mark on this one. Check the UFC match up link to see how they come physically.
Elkins vs Landwehr
Darren Elkins, DEC
We’ll be backing veteran Darren Elkins (-115) to prevail against Nate Landwehr (-105) in a featherweight battle. Elkins is a 10-year UFC veteran who has shared the Octagon with some of the sport's biggest names, but the 35-year-old Indiana native is looking to snap a career-worst three-fight losing streak. Prior to the slump, which started against current champ Alexander Volkanovski in July 2018, he had never lost two straight fights. Landwehr, 31, built a promising resume in various promotions before making his UFC debut in January. He was stopped in the first round by Herbert Burns.
Gadelha vs. Hill
Cláudia Gadelha, DEC
Cláudia Dantas Gadelha is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Women's Strawweight division. Claudia has faced much stronger opponents recently so a decision because there haven’t been too many KO stoppages in WMMA.
Barboza vs. Ige
Edson Barboza, DEC
Barboza is a very skillful mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai kickboxer from brazil. I still think the judges were wrong for his fight against Felder, if the weigh cut goes well, I don't see why he couldn't become a top contender at Featherweight.
Looking down the road, it looks more and more likely that Conor McGregor will be stepping into the Octagon before too long. In potential fights McGregor is a underdog against Khabib Nurmagomedov or Jorge Masvidal, and potentially a favorite versus Justin Gaethje, and Nate Diaz.
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