UFC Fight Night 175: Smith vs Rakic Odds & Preview

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This week’s installment of UFC Fight Night comes once again from the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas, with a light heavyweight tilt featuring Aleksandar Rakic and Anthony Smith, a onetime UFC Light Heavyweight contender, as a three-round headliner. The co-main event has Robbie Lawler tangling with Neil Magny in a welterweight bout. You can catch all of the action on ESPN+.

We have the full fight card along with UFC betting thoughts on the main bouts.

UFC Beting: – August 29
UFC Fight Night 175: Smith vs Rakic Preview

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UFC Fight Night 175: Fight Card

Anthony Smith

Anthony Smith (33-15, +240) vs Aleksandar Rakic (12-2, -280) is Smith’s chance to move into contention in the light heavyweight division. He had fought at the middleweight classification for years, both at Strikeforece and UFC. With UFC, he got cut the first time but then came back to deliver wins over the likes of Elvis Mutapcic, Andrew Sanchez and Hector Lombard. He pushed Thiago Santos hard before losing, and then he jumped to light heavyweight. He ran over Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua and beat Volkan Oezdemir via stoppage. He got his first title chance in 2018 against Jon Jones, but he didn’t push the action, and Jones rolled to a decision win. Smith did beat Alexander Guftafsson in his next fight, but in his May he got demolished by Glover Teixeira via stoppage in the fifth round. Is he headed back to contender status, or is he on the downward side of his career?

Aleksandar Rakic

Rakic came to UFC with big wins over Francimar Barroso and Justin Ledet; in the second fight, he looked terrific on the ground. He finished 2018 with a win over Devin Clark, and then he started 2019 as a co-headliner with Jimi Manuwa, and he delivered a head kick that knocked Manuwa out just 42 seconds in — and ended Manuwa’s career. He fought Volkan Oezdemir in his last bout, losing controversially on the cards.

This fight will come down to whether Smith can deliver a win relatively quickly, as we still don’t know a whole lot about Rakic’s defense. Rakic is the more mobile fighter in the Octagon. His striking should be adequate to hold Smith at bay, and his wrestling skills should prosper against Smith’s less-than-stellar defense against the takedown. This is a main event that lasts just three rounds instead of the usual five, so Smith won’t be able to stack up points in the late rounds.

Final Prediction:
Rakic wins via decision | Check the Odds

UFC Beting: – August 29
UFC Fight Night 175: Magny vs Lawler Preview

Robbie Lawler

Neil Magny (23-7, -250) vs Robbie Lawler (28-14, +210) represents a possible turning point for Lawler, who nears the end of the seventh year of his second stint with UFC. Once he returned from Strikeforce in 2013, he went on a run that ended in a title bout against Johnny Hendricks. He lost that fight on the cards, but then he beat Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown to get another shot at Hendricks, and that time he won. His title defenses against Rory MacDonald and Carlos Condit remain highlight-reel material for UFC fans. However, after losing the belt to Tyron Woodley in 2016, he has not done a lot, except for a 2017 decision win over Donald Cerrone.

Now he has lost three fights in a row, coming into his bout with Magny.

Neil Magny

Magny came from “The Ultimate Fighter” to UFC, and in 2014 he beat Gasan Umalatov and went on a seven-fight winning streak that shot him up the rankings. He missed all of 2019 thanks to some issues with drug tests, but then he beat Jingliang Li and Anthony Rocco Martin. He needs a few more wins to get consideration as a contender. He can land strikes from distance and can surprise opponents on the ground, but he doesn’t bring much in the way of power or intensity.

Has Lawler slowed down to the point where Magny can solve him? I don’t think he’s there quite yet.

Final Prediction:
Lawler wins via decision | Check the Odds