Salt Lake City, UT hosts this week’s UFC 332 a thirteen fight slate scheduled with early prelims at 1pm PST, prelims at 3PM PST then the main card begins at 5pm PST.
As is getting to be the case with these fight cards, favorites opening at a price of -250 or higher comprised seven of the thirteen bouts making the investment of underdogs quite difficult. Favorites are running just under 70% this year in the UFC.
Seven bouts will also be waged at Welterweight (170lbs.) and above where the finishing rates are premium, so the anticipation is that violence is on the menu for 332.
Last week Brazilian banger Elvis Brener finished a tough journeyman fighter in Josiah Harrel propelling this column’s profitability to 20-15-1 +7.82u.
Let’s keep the momentum rolling!
Natalia Silva -210 vs. Wang Cong -180 Woman’s Flyweight (125lbs.)Title
Women’s flyweight stalwart Valentina Schevchenko relinquished her title to allow the division to evolve while she overcomes a recent physical setback.
In to compete for the vacated title are number one ranked Brazilian fighter Natalia Silva who was Shevchenko’s original opponent and China’s sixth ranked flyweight contender, Wang Cong to steps in on relative short notice.
Cong is 10-1 professionally and after having earned entry into the UFC via the contender series. Cong carries Sanda, kickboxing, and boxing expertise into the fight and while she has a couple of finishes and two submissions over the moderate talent she has faced the fact is that Cong has little power in her strikes and steps up in competition aggressively to take this opportunity.
Cong has earned a 5-1 record with wins over mid-level talent in the division as well as a submission loss early in her UFC tenure to Brazilian Gabriella Fernandes who is a mixed martial artist with nominal grappling prowess.
Cong enters this fight with the understanding that Ms. Silva, her opponent Saturday is well more dangerous than the mid-level set of adversaries that she has faced arriving into this battle.
The number one contender in the division is Silva so rather than compete against Shevchenko she gets Cong. Brazilian Silva holds an abundance of mixed martial arts weaponry as she is a Purple belt in Taekwondo and a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
To Silva this title opportunity means more to her than whom she is competing against for with a win she will be given her chance at Shevchenko.
Silva, twenty-nine has faced far more stringent competition than has the thirty-four year old Cong and she arrives to this fight understanding the opportunity that winning provides her and she arrives off a full fight camp.
Once this fight begins it will be the typical two fly’s battling each other in a barrel for the large cage coupled with small ladies and adroit characteristics often spell a twenty-five minute decision.
In this fight I look for Silva to come out immediately as the aggressor to display to the fans watching as well as Cong herself that in the simplest terms, Cong is not quite ready for a fight of this stature and magnitude.
Catching Silva, who opened at -250 anywhere near the -200 mark spells serious advantage in my judgement.
Total in this fight: 4.5 Rds. Over -300
Johnny Walker -145 vs. Mic Parkin +125 Heavyweight (265lbs.)
This is a “Don’t judge the book by the cover” fight.
Johnny Walker is a six foot five inch madly athletic mixed martial artist decorated with a brown belt in BJJ.
Walker is uber aggressive and his combination of height, reach and footwork allows Walker to be the more athletic, faster, more powerful fighter in almost every fight he has taken since he has arrive to the UFC.
Walker is at home and most dangerous standing and competing from distance, but his whole body or work has been competing against light-heavyweights.
Saturday Walker steps up to the heavyweight division for a tussle against an English bloke who has accrued a 4-1 tally against moderate UFC heavyweight competition.
What is paradoxical in this fight is that Walker must, and I say must protect his ‘Achilles heel’ which is his fragile chin, for Walker has a balsa wood beak.
He’s been dusted by less powerful light heavyweights than he’ll face Saturday against heavyweight Parkin a man who will enter the cage at a minimum of 265 pounds.
Walker will be the faster more adroit athlete in the cage, however if he is not focused and tries to stand power shot to power shot with Parkin he may well be crumpled.
Parkin arrives to this fight off a loss to journeyman Marcin Tybura but the fact that Parkin is well rounded, carries power and has tasted the effect of heavyweight strikes/kicks tells me that Parkin should not be judged by his body type rather, Parkin should be viewed as a most dangerous opponent for Walker.
Walker will be greased lighting early in this fight however should it transpire into the second round then Walker will need to ensure that he does not allow Parkin to back him up with pressure, enter the pocket, or for that matter capture the clasp for any inside fighting or grappling/wrestling will be to the favor of the naturally larger Parkin.
Johnny Walker opened +157 for this fight and has been bet to current pricing of Walker -145!
Walker who is the beneficiary of his last two fights is being overestimated here by the marketplace as he is a fighter one wants to consider when he is priced the underdog because Walker the favorite…. is a load.
Parkin +125
Total in this fight: 1.5 Over -200
Strong lean Over
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Enjoy the battles and Thank You for reading.
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