UFC on ESPN 4: Dos Anjos vs Edwards Odds, Preview, and Prediction

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos headlines the UFC’s second visit to San Antonio as RDA takes on Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC on ESPN 4 slated for July 20, 2019, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Rafael Dos Anjos vs Leon Edwards

Dos Anjos bounced back from a two-fight skid with a submission victory over Kevin Lee at UFC Fight Night Rochester. Prior to that, RDA lost back to back five-round bouts to former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington and current welterweight king  Kamaru Usman.

The 34-year old from Rio de Janeiro has a record of 29-11 with five knockouts and 8 submission wins. RDA stands 5-8 and has a reach of 70 inches while fighting as an orthodox fighter. Dos Anjos has beaten the likes of Robbie Lawler, Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz, Benson Henderson, and Anthony Pettis.

Edwards meanwhile is riding high on a seven-fight winning streak. During that run, Edwards has recorded wins over the likes of Gunnar Nelson, Donald Cerrone, and Vincent Luque. An 8th straight win should put him in the title conversation. Edwards is a former BAMMA welterweight champion.

The Birmingham, England fighter is 6-2 tall with a reach of 74 inches and fights as a southpaw. Edwards has a record of 17-3 with six knockouts and three submissions. In his last bout, he won a split decision over Gunnar Nelson at UFC London last March. Edwards has a UFC record of 9 wins against two losses.

Who Wins?

Edwards has a good size advantage over Dos Anjos and he can always fight RDA from a distance without absorbing much damage. Dos Anjos has had a long career and has a lot of mileage already. RDA is just 4-4 in his last eight bouts but his losses during that period were to current or former UFC champions.

Dos Anjos may no longer be a spring chicken but he can still give it a go. Edwards’ winning streak is impressive but RDA’s resume looks much better. Edwards has never been stopped before but I think Dos Anjos will take the fight to him. I’m thinking of RDA winning by submission but I won’t be surprised if this goes the distance. Prediction: Rafael Dos Anjos

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Aleksei Oleynik vs Walt Harris

Aleksei Oleynik is coming off a knockout loss to Alistair Overeem in Russia last April. Oleynik is 6-2 tall and has a reach of 80 inches while fighting out the orthodox stance. He has a record of 57-12-1 with 45 submissions and 8 knockouts. He is 6-3 under the UFC with his last two losses coming via knockout.

Harris is coming off another knockout win at UFC Ottawa where he stopped Sergey Spivak in one round. Harris is now 12-7-0-1 with all of his wins coming by way of knockout, 10 in the opening round. The Big Ticket stands 6-5 and has a reach of 77 inches while fighting as a southpaw.

Oleynik is the much more experienced fighter here and has excellent submission skills. However, he’s struggled against the big names and has a problem against heavy hitting opponents with six of his losses coming via knockout. Oleynik will try to put Harris down. But I think Harris catches him when he tries to shoot for a takedown. Good night. Prediction: Walt Harris

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Greg Hardy vs Juan Adams

Hardy is the former NFL Pro-Bowler who lost his UFC debut after landing an illegal knee to a downed Allen Crowder last January. Hardy bounced back with a first-round TKO win over  Dmitry Smolyakov at UFC Fort Lauderdale last month. He is now 4-1 with 4 knockouts in his MMA career. All knockouts have come in the first round.

Adams earned his UFC spot by after starring in Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender series. Adams won his first five MMA fights, all by knockout including four in the very first round. But at UFC Ottawa last month, not only did he go the distance for the first time in his career but he also suffered his first loss against Arjan Bhullar.

Both men are listed at 6-5 and both have a reach of 80 inches. Adams is almost four years younger than Hardy but Hardy is the more established athlete, having come from the NFL. These heavyweights rarely go to the ground and have not attempted any submission. On their feet, Adams lands two significant strikes more per minute but his striking defense of 42% could be his undoing against an offensive fighter like Hardy. Prediction: Greg Hardy

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Andrei Arlovski vs Ben Rothwell

Andrei Arlovski knocked out Ben Rothwell when the two heavyweights fought at Affliction: Banned in 2008. Back then, the pair was still in their primes. Fast forward to 2019, Arlovski just turned 40 and is 2-8 since a lousy win over Frank Mir. Meanwhile, the 37-year old Rothwell returned from a drug suspension and lost via unanimous decision to Blagoy Ivanov last March. I’m not sure why the UFC booked a rematch but since it’s here, let’s go over it.

Arlovski stands 6-3 and has a reach of 77 inches. The Pitbull has a record of 27-8-0-3 with 17 knockouts and 3 submissions and is just 1-3-1 in his last five bouts. Rothwell is 6-4 tall and has a reach of 78 inches. Big Ben is 3-2 in his last five bouts and 36-11 overall with 20 knockouts and 13 submissions. But he’s fought just once in the last three years.

Both fighters are primarily strikers. Both have knockout power and are almost of the same size. This fight could go either way, really and I won’t be surprised if the UFC betting odds are even here.  Rothwell is younger but only has one bout in three years. Arlovski has fought 8 times since 2017 but only has two wins over that period. Arlovski was always the better overall fighter than Rothwell. Given Big Ben’s inactivity, I’m picking Arlovski to pick up a rare win. Prediction: Andrei Arlovski

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