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UFC 210: Will Brooks vs. Charles Oliveira Odds and Prediction

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An interesting lightweight matchup was added to UFC 210 fight card, as Will Brooks faces the returning Charles Oliveira in a three round affair.

Rough Road

The move to the UFC has been a rough road for Will Brooks. After winning the Bellator Season 9 Lightweight tournament in 2013, Brooks cemented his status as the Scott Coker-led promotion’s Lightweight king with back to back victories over Michael Chandler. After two title defenses, though, Brooks tried his luck at the UFC where he signed a six-fight deal and debuted with a UD win over Ross Pearson at the TUF 23 Finale. But one fight later, Brooks suffered the second defeat of his career at the hands of Alex Oliveira, losing by KO at UFC Fight Night 23. The last time he lost, Brooks bounced back with nine straight wins. He looks to rebound again against a tough submission artist.

Submission Specialist

Charles Oliveira’s middle name should’ve been submission because the Brazilian veteran is one of the best submission artists in the UFC. A whopping 13 of Oliveira’s 21 victories have come by submission and he’s had a long line of notable victims in the UFC: Hatsu Hioki, Jeremy Stephens, Nick Lentz and most recently Myles Jury. Despite his grappling expertise, it was kind of surprising to see Oliveira lose his last two bouts by submission, both by guillotine choke to Anthony Pettis and Ricardo Lamas. Still ever dangerous on the mat, Oliveira looks to rebound – just like Brooks – from a defeat and rise as one of the contenders in the red hot lightweight division.

The Odds

Will Brooks is a -260 favorite while Charles Oliveira is currently a +250 underdog. Despite Brooks’ two fight resume in the UFC, he is a proven winner with the Bellator title on top of his achievements. Sure, he lost to Alex Oliveira, but remember Cowboy grossly missed weight for that bout and Brooks still took it. Will Brooks has been nothing but solid all throughout his career and his consistency should be crucial here. If this fight remains on the feet, Brooks has a huge advantage over Oliveira and if this one goes down to the ground (which is likely Oliveira’s game plan), Brooks’ grappling and wrestling are polished enough to match Oliveira.

Aside from a two fight losing skid, Oliveira is expecting his wife to give birth to their first child at about the same time UFC 210 is happening. No matter how focused he and his team says he is about Will Brooks, you can never take away a father’s excitement of his first born child. Oliveira needs a win badly but moving back up to 155 isn’t the solution. Nor is it going to be fighting Will Brooks. Du Bronx hasn’t won at 155 since December of 2015 and he’s not going to win against Will Brooks either. We’re picking Will Brooks to beat Charles Oliveira.

Chris Weidman American Flag

Chris Weidman vs. Gegard Mousasi Odds and Prediction: Can All-American Bounce Back?

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Former UFC middleweight Chris Weidman looks to stop the first losing streak of his career when he faces the surging Gegard Mousasi at UFC 210 on April 8th.

Opposite Ways

Weidman vs Mousasi is a fight between fighters going opposite ways. Mousasi is on his best winning run ever, while Weidman is trying to snap out of a skid.

Chris Weidman was one of the hottest fighters when he came off back to back wins over the legendary Anderson Silva. But after going 13-0, it has been downhill for the New Yorker. Not only did he lose his middleweight title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194, he lost his comeback fight against Yoel Romero at the monumental UFC 205 in New York.

With back to back losses, Weidman cannot afford another setback. But things haven’t gotten easier as he will face a fighter who is experiencing his best run in his UFC career. Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi has won six of his last seven fights and his last three by knockout. Mousasi’s winning streak has put him him in the Top 5 of the UFC middleweight rankings for the first time ever. A victory over the 4th ranked Weidman will surely generate talks of a title shot against the winner of Bisping vs St. Pierre.

The Odds

Weidman is currently at even money ( +100 ) while Mousasi is slightly favored at -125. The concern with Weidman right not is that he’s lost back to back fights by knockout and Gegard Mousasi has the same (if not more) power than Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero.

Like Weidman’s last two conquerors, Mousasi is an excellent striker who averages 3.68 significant strikes landed per minute. He’s also precise with his strikes at 50% accuracy. If this fight stays on the feet, Mousasi will have the big advantage over Weidman. But that’s not the end of our story. Mousasi’s takedown defense is good, but not great. And against an All-American wrestler like Weidman, that could spell trouble.

Grounding Mousasi

Weidman averages 3.33 takedowns per 15 minutes. That’s more than the average of the last 7 opponents of Mousasi, during which he’s been 6-1. The last time Mousasi faced someone with a better average was in 2014 against Jacare Souza. During that bout, Mousasi was taken to the ground four times and was submitted by the Brazilian grappler in the third round.

Weidman may not have the submission skills of Souza but his wrestling and grappling are just as dominating. If Weidman forces Mousasi to the mat, it’s going to be trouble for the Dream Catcher. This fight can go either way but given this will be in Weidman’s hometown in New York and Weidman is more desperate for a victory, we’re going with Chris Weidman here.

Sure, it’s not going to be necessarily dominant. But this will be ugly and grinding. Weidman’s going to take Mousasi to the ground and win it whichever way he can. We’re picking Chris Weidman to win by decision or ground and pound stoppage.

UFC 210 Predictions: Why Anthony Johnson Will Beat Daniel Cormier

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Canada’s loss is New York’s gain.

That’s because this rematch was supposed to headline UFC 206 last year in Canada. Unfortunately, the injury bug struck and it was moved to a later date which later became UFC 210 on April 8th, 2017 at the Key Bank center in Buffalo New York.

Take Two

This will be the second fight between current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier and challenger Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson. These two fought for the vacant title in 2015 during the period where Jon Jones was stripped by the UFC of his belt because of personal issues. During that fight, Daniel Cormier effectively used his wrestling base to dominate Anthony Johnson and later submit him to win the world title.

This time around, Cormier promises that he will go to to toe with Rumble, although not many believe he will actually do that against one of the hardest hitting strikers the UFC has ever seen. Johnson is coming off a one-punch annihilation of perennial contender Glover Teixeira. Cormier meanwhile has not fought since beating Anderson Silva in a special match at UFC 200. Both will be making their first ever appearance in New York.

Odds

Cormier is currently pegged at +100 while Rumble is at -130. During their first bout, both fighters were able to show their signature skills: DC with his wrestling and Rumble with his power. Unfortunately for Johnson ( or luckily for DC ), he gassed and was caught in a rear naked choke in Round 3. But that fight was almost two years ago. Cormier is now 38 and although he’s put up back to back wins over Alexander Gustafsson and Anderson Silva, time and injuries may have caught up with the champ. Cormier pulled out from two bouts last year, the latest of which was supposed to be against Rumble at UFC 206.

On the other hand, Anthony Johnson has been on a tear since losing to Cormier. Rumble has recorded three straight knockout wins over Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira. None of those bouts went past round two so doubters will still think about his cardio and stamina in a five round bout. But at 33, Johnson may be at his peak. This is his second attempt at the Light Heavyweight title and it comes against the only man to beat him in this division. Rumble looks like he’s locked in focus on winning that title. We’re picking Anthony Johnson to beat Daniel Cormier and win the UFC Light Heavyweight title.