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UFC Fight Night 161 Odds, Preview & Picks

UFC Fight Night 161 Odds, Preview & Picks

Written by on October 11, 2019

UFC News and Betting Previews| Xbet.ag
High drama ensued in the days leading up to UFC Fight Night 161, as one of the fighters in the headliner, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, did not make weight until the deadline. Now, though, that she has made it, the strawweight bout between the former UFC champion and former Invicta FC Atomweight champ Michelle Waterson will go ahead as the main event on Saturday’s card from Tampa’s Amalie Arena. The co-main event will feature Cub Swanson and Kron Gracie in a featherweight bout. You can catch all of the action on ESPN+. We have the full fight card and MMA betting suggestions for the top bouts.

UFC Fight Night 161 Odds, Preview & Picks

Main Card (ESPN+)

  • Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Michelle Waterson (Women’s Strawweight)
  • Cub Swanson vs Kron Gracie (Featherweight)
  • Niko Price vs James Vick (Welterweight)
  • Mackenzie Dern vs Amanda Ribas (Women’s Strawweight)
  • Matt Frevola vs Luis Pena (Lightweight)
  • Eryk Anders vs Gerald Meerschaert (Middleweight)

Preliminary Card (ESPN+)

  • Ryan Spann vs Devin Clark (Light Heavyweight)
  • Thomas Gifford vs Mike Davis (Lightweight)
  • Max Griffin vs Alex Morono (Welterweight)
  • Deiveson Figueiredo vs Tim Elliott (Flyweight)
  • Marlon Vera vs Andre Ewell (Bantamweight)
  • Miguel Baeza vs Hector Aldana (Welterweight)
  • Marvin Vettori vs Andrew Sanchez (Middleweight)
  • J.J. Aldrich vs Lauren Mueller (Women’s Flyweight)

Joanna Jedrzejczyk (15-3) vs Michelle Waterson (17-6)

could be the first bout on her way back to the strawweight title, which she held less than two years ago. She was the first major figure in UFC’s strawweight division until Rose Najamjunas delivered a thunderous upset at Madison Square Garden, where Namajunas brought the fight to the close in just over three minutes. Jedrzejczyk pushed Namajunas the distance in their rematch, but Namajunas still won on the cards. Then, Jedrzejczyk moved to flyweight and lost, and then she has been out of action for most of 2019. If she wants to get back to the top, this is her beginning. Waterson beat Angela Magana in her UFC debut, although she did not win as easily as expected. She had a bout of injuries for the next 18 months, and then she beat Paige VanZant. She then took a beating from Namajunas and from Torres, but since then, she has won regularly, using her advantage in speed and karate expertise to combine strikes with movement around the cage — and the occasional burst of strong wrestling. She has a lot of strength for her size, and that helped her beat Karolina Kowalkiewicz badly in March. The problem here is that Jedrzejczyk has a significant size advantage — and has generally won easily when that is the case. Final Prediction: Jedrzejczyk wins via stoppage

Kron Gracie (5-0) vs Cub Swanson (25-11)

gives us the heir apparent to the Gracie family in Kron. His grappling is solid, but overall his fights have been uneven. He picked up solid victories over Hideo Tokoro and Tatsuya Kawajiri, but the path to both victories was uneven before he started paying attention and delivered submissions. The fight against Swanson is much tougher in terms of opposition, but there are times when the UFC delivers a swift downshift to the learning curve. Swanson built a name for himself as a prospect for World Extreme Cagefighting, but he lost his debut in eight seconds as Jose Aldo delivered a thunderous (and quick) knockout. Eventually, Swanson found his way, and he ran off a six-bout winning streak that included some huge knockouts. However, once Swanson got to see some tougher opposition, he was run out of the cage by Frankie Edgar’s wrestling game and then worn to a frazzle by Max Holloway’s speed. He took a year off and then won four in a row, including a victory over Doo Ho Choi that was nominated for “Fight of the Year” in 2016. A loss near the end of 2017 to Brian Ortega seems to have sapped him of his motivation, and in April, Shane Burgos made him look old and slow. Can he put things back together here? It’s doubtful. Final Prediction: Gracie wins via decision
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