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UFC Fight Night 157 Odds, Predictions & Picks

UFC Fight Night 157 Odds, Predictions & Picks

Written by on August 28, 2019

UFC News and Betting Previews| Xbet.ag

UFC heads to Asia this weekend for UFC Fight Night 157 on Saturday at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre Arena in China. The main event is a UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship fight between Jessica Andrade, the current champ, and challenger Weili Zhang. The co-main event is a welterweight tilt between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Li Jingliang. You can catch the preliminary fights on ESPN, and then change over to ESPN+ for the main card. We have the full card as well as UFC betting thoughts on the top fights.

UFC Fight Night 157 Odds, Predictions & Picks

  • When: Saturday, August 31 at 3:00am PDT
  • Where: Universiade Sports Center, Shenzhen Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China
  • TV: ESPN+
  • Live Stream: UFC Fight Pass

Main Card (ESPN+)

  • Jessica Andrade vs Weili Zhang (Women’s Strawweight Championship)
  • Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs Li Jingliang (Welterweight)
  • Kai Kara-France vs Mark De La Rosa (Flyweight)
  • Lu Zhenhong vs Movsar Evloev (Featherweight)
  • Wu Yanan vs Mizuki Inoue (Women’s Flyweight)

Preliminary Card (ESPN)

  • Kenan Song vs Derrick Krantz (Welterweight)
  • Anthony Hernandez vs Jun Yong Park (Middleweight)
  • Su Mudaerji vs Andre Soukhamthath (Bantamweight)
  • Da Un Jung vs Khadis Ibragimov (Light Heavyweight)
  • Damir Ismagulov vs Thiago Moises (Lightweight)
  • Karoline Rosa Cavedo vs Lara Fritzen Procopio (Women’s Bantamweight)
  • Batgerel Danaa vs Heili Alateng (Bantamweight)

Jessica Andrade (20-6) vs Weili Zhang (19-1)

The bout features a champion in Andrade who has taken an unusual path toward holding the belt. She entered UFC as a bantamweight but was undersized. After taking some losses she realized that she needed to drop down, and the greater power she has shown at 115 pounds has been considerable. She took down Jessica Penne, Joanne Calderwood and Angela Hill in quick succession. She got a title shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk but lost, and many saw her as a powerful fighter who lacked skill. However, since then she has kept winning, knocking out Karolina Kowalkiewicz and then defeating then-champion Rose Namajunas with a slam right on her head. She is still a hurricane in the cage, and Zhang had better be ready for raw physicality.

Zhang won 16 straight fights in China before entering UFC, and then she won the next three, beating Danielle Taylor, Jessica Aguilar and Tecia Torres. The win over Torres was particularly impressive because of the big wins Torres has picked up in her career. Zhang is not long enough to keep Andrade out of reach, but she does have considerable cardio stamina, and her kicking game could help her keep Andrade’s big bombs from landing and pick up enough points to win on the cards. She likes to move forward, though, and that could lead her right into Andrade’s hands. UFC Fight Night 157 Pick: Andrade wins via stoppage

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (21-5) vs Li Jingliang (16-5)

This one features a contender who took longer than he should have to emerge in Zaleski dos Santos, but that is a sign of the depth of the UFC welterweight division. He lost his debut to Nicolas Dalby in a split decision, but then he ran off six wins in a row. Known for his big bombs, he showed the ability to bring submissions in a win over Curtis Millender back in March. Now he appears in his second straight co-main event. Li was one of the few legitimate MMA fighters that UFC found during their first forays into China five years ago. His nickname at that time was “The Leech” because of his grinding approach to wrestling, but once he found out that UFC required a different approach, he added brawling and striking to his game. He was set to fight Alex Oliveira in April but had to withdraw due to injury. Both of these fighters tend to draw out their wins, taking more time than they need to. Li often takes as long as a round to sniff out his opponent, but that usually ends up with him taking a lot of big bombs during the scouting process. Zaleski dos Santos should find an opening in the early going thanks to Li’s hesitation and end the night early. UFC Fight Night 157 Pick: Zaleski dos Santos wins via stoppage
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