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UFC Fight Night 159 Odds, Preview & Predictions

UFC Fight Night 159 Odds, Preview & Predictions

Written by on September 19, 2019

UFC News and Betting Previews| Xbet.ag
Mexico City is the site for this weekend’s UFC Fight Night 159, as Mexico City Arena will host the main event, pitting Yair Rodriguez, the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America in the featherweight division, against Jeremy Stephens. The co-main event will feature Carla Esparza and Alexa Grasso in a women’s strawweight tilt. We have the main card and the preliminary card for you, along with MMA betting thoughts about some of the key matchups.

UFC Fight Night 159 Odds, Preview & Predictions

  • When: Saturday, September 21 at 5:00pm PDT
  • Where: Mexico City Arena, Mexico City, Mexico
  • TV: ESPN+
  • Live Stream: UFC Fight Pass

Main Card (ESPN+)

  • Yair Rodriguez vs Jeremy Stephens (Featherweight)
  • Carla Esparza vs Alexa Grasso (Women’s Strawweight)
  • Brandon Moreno vs Askar Askarov (Flyweight)
  • Irene Aldana vs Vanessa Melo (Women’s Bantamweight)
  • Martin Bravo vs Steven Peterson (Featherweight)

Preliminary Card (ESPN+)

  • Jose Alberto Quinonez vs Carlos Huachin (Bantamweight)
  • Polo Reyes vs Kyle Nelson (Featherweight)
  • Sergio Pettis vs Tyson Nam (Flyweight)
  • Ariane Carnelossi vs Angela Hill (Women’s Strawweight)
  • Vinicius Moreira vs Paul Craig (Light Heavyweight)
  • Sijara Eubanks vs Bethe Correia (Women’s Bantamweight)
  • Claudio Puelles vs Marcos Rosa Mariano (Lightweight)

Yair Rodriguez (11-2) vs Jeremy Stephens (28-16)

This one is a spotlight for Rodriguez, who is UFC’s best hope for expanding the promotion into Mexico. His victory in The Ultimate Fighter Latin America was stunning, particularly in his win over Charles Rosa, who was favored to win that show. Instead, Rodriguez put together a six-fight winning streak that introduced MMA fans to his whirlwind approach, which combines flashy technique with combinations that opponents do not expect. In 2016, he knocked out Andre Fili with a flying switch kick. He did not hit a wall until Frankie Edgar beat him. After that, Rodriguez almost left UFC altogether, but then he fought Chan Sung Jung back in November. It looked like Rodriguez was going to lose on the cards, but then he delivered a knockout in the waning seconds, delivering an elbow to Jung’s jaw, a triumph for creativity over technique, just in the nick of time. Stephens has a 15-15 record in UFC. He started as a lightweight and fought as a brawler, which worked until opponents figured him out (such as Yves Edwards, who delivered a knockout in a memorable fight). Going down to featherweight helped, as his wrestling skill and his power striking went with him, but early wins were followed by a seven-match streak in which he dropped five. Eventually, Stephens learned to fight smarter, picking the right spots to attack instead of trying to swarm his opponents from the get-go, and he made it to the top ten…where he has plateaued again. So we have the smart fighter against the maelstrom. In this case, given Stephens’ struggles, I’m going with the maelstrom. Final Prediction: Rodriguez wins via knockout

Alexa Grasso (11-2) vs Carla Esparza (14-6)

Both profiles another fighter that UFC is counting on to build the promotion in Mexico with Grasso, but her progress in UFC has ben hit-and-miss. Grasso took a loss on the cards against Felice Herrig showed that Grasso focuses too much on avoiding big bombs as opposed to getting her own points. She did edge out Randa Markos on the cards, but then Tatiana Suarez was able to submit her fairly easily. She spent some time on the shelf with injuries, but then she dismantled Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her comeback, a shocking obliteration of a former title challenger. Esparza continues to shine in UFC but remains under the radar. She did win the first UFC women’s strawweight belt, but then Joanna Jedrzejczyk took her apart in her first title defense. She has put together a serviceable striking approach, but her chain wrestling is her strength. If Esparza can pick up a win here, she can start making her way back toward a title fight. In this fight, Esparza wins if things go to the ground, while Grasso wins if she can keep the fight upright. I like Esparza, who has slightly more skins on the wall, here. Final Prediction: Esparza wins via decision
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