Charles “do Bronx” Oliveira (-550) vs. Eric “Little Wee” Wisely (+375)
Oliveria has moved down to the featherweight division, and it is likely the best decision he coudl have made for his UFC career. It only required an 8 pound weight loss, and he appears as though he may be a bit quicker for it. Wisely isn’t as bad as the odds seem to indicate, however. He did well against Hermes Franca and Matt Veach, which could suggest he has a chance at this huge upset. Oliveira has problems remaining under control, but he still should be able to grind out a decision victory in this one.
Cub Swanson (-130) vs. George Roop (EVEN)
Roop has a pretty poor recrod and hasn’t done very well against the best opponents. Mark Nominick knocked him out fairly easily, and then Roop split a decision against Hatsu Hioki. He beat the hell out of Josh Grispi though. Still, at 5-8-1, it’s hard to imagine hm going much further than he has so far.
Swanson has a better record, but it’s not that great eitehr. He beat Mackens Semerzier, and then lost to Chad Mendes. Swanson can take care of business against poor opponents, but never seems to surprise against the good to great ones. In his favor, he has out struck every opponent except Jose Aldo, and Roop is going to give him a lot of trouble. Swanson knows he has to get it to the ground as often as he can, but Roop isn’t that bad on the mat himself. This one really could go either way, as the MMA oddsmakers have suggested, and I don’t have a strong enough feeling on either fighter to advocate any type of action on this fight.
Mike Russow (-160) vs. John Olav “The Viking” Einemo (+130)
Russow has won his last ten fights and it’s pretty impressive, but his opponents haven’t been all that great, so that must be taken into account. He didn’t look particularly graet against Jon Madsen and got pummelled against Todd Duffee, falling in a knockout.
Einemo took a five year break from MMA and returned at UFC 131. He’s hasn’t been able to beat UFC level opponents, but is an awesome grappler, if nothing else.
This fight is probably going to be pretty ugly, if not boring to watch, but Russow should probably win it much easier than the odds would indicate he would. Einemo’s long layoff from fighting couldn’t have served him well, and Russow is red hot.
Evan Dunham (-375) vs. Nik “The Carny” Lentz (+285)
Originally, this fight was supposed to feature Paul Sass instead of Dunham, and we’re the worse for it. In one of the more lopsided fights, Lentz should offer some value at least, since he is 5-1-1 in UFC. It’s hard to see why he is +285 when taking that into account. He’s not at all exciting to watch, and looks to press opponents to the wall and then take them down. Dunham, however, is unlikely to allow that to happen. Dunham’s striking ability will likely make the difference, but Dunahm is more his equal on the mat — if he can get it there. The fact remains though, Dunham has an advantage standing or on the mat, so he’s a pretty safe bet here.
Chris “All American” Weidman (-150) vs. Demian Maia (+120)
Both Weidman and Maia are great grapplers. Weidman fought D-1 wrestling in college and has a purple belt in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, and Maia is a BJJ black belt and he yeilds tremendous power to go with a great skill set.
Weidman is 7-0 and Maia is 15-3. Maia has become a much better striker since he made his UFC debut back in ’07, and he is actually probably a better striker than Weidman, which is saying a lot. Still, Weidman is facing probably his toughest opponent so far in his young career, and he took the fight on short notice, too. With that and the fact that Maia is so experciened and skilled, it’s hard to imagine Weidman winning this one, despite beign a slight favorite. I like Maia in this minor upset.
