After a highly successful debut, “Fight Island” continues this week (Wednesday, July 15, 2020) on ESPN / ESPN + with a pair of thrilling featherweight contenders in the driver’s seat. The UFC in the ESPN 12 main event sees Calvin Kattar seek his fifth UFC knockout victory against lanky Dan Ige, who won six in a row against quality competition. The card will also feature a flyweight fight pitting Tim Elliott against Ryan Benoit and what could be another featherweight puncher between bantamweight contenders Jimmie Rivera and Cody Stamann.
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What went wrong UFC 251?
It would have been a success anyway, but thanks to some clumsy judges in Muslim Salikhov vs. Eliezeu Zaleski dos Santos, the debut of “Fight Island” ended in a perfect victory. Jiri Prochazka and Davey Grant scored massive knockouts as underdogs, Petr Yan picked up a decisive finish, Karol Rosa dominated Vanessa Melo as expected, and Salikhov, well, raised his hand.
UFC on ESPN 13 Odds for the Under Card:
Khamzat Chimaev (-335) vs. John Phillips (+275)
Ricardo Ramos (-155) vs. Lerone Murphy (+135)
Modest Bukauskas (-230) against Andreas Michailidis (+190)
Jared Gordon (-145) vs. Chris Fishgold (+125)
Diana Belbita (-165) vs. Liana Jojua (+145)
Jack Shore (-700) vs. Aaron Philips (+500)
Kenneth Bergh (-150) vs. Jorge Gonzalez (+130)
Thoughts: Ricardo Ramos and Kenneth Bergh they seem reasonable investments based only on their significant fighting advantages, which seem to lead them to victory against dangerous strikers.
While Lerone Murphy did well to fight early adversity against Zubaira Tukugov, “Warrior” still managed to take him down six times, continuing the takedowns even at the point of total exhaustion. Ramos, while not as harsh or devastating in his fight as the Chechen bruche, is a much better submission artist and has the knockdown skills to at least partially recreate Tukhugov’s efforts. Barring some serious improvements from Murphy, Ramos should have this on the table.
Jorge González could be the new kid on the light heavyweight poster for “puncher opportunity.” His amazing technique is painfully limited, but he can sometimes make up for it with pure power. Unfortunately, that won’t serve him well against Bergh, who is decently capable on his feet and hates wasting time there when the takedown occurs. Whether you drag Gonzalez to the mat of your own free will or capitalize on the Mexican slugger’s occasional reactive takedowns with his patented guillotine, “Ymir” figures to hit him in no time.
Bergh blew on his weight cut, making him out (details). Put Tim Elliott there instead: Ryan Benoit has been knocked down more than a dozen times in his last four fights.
UFC on ESPN 13 Main Card Odds:
Calvin Kattar (-290) vs. Dan Ige (+245)
Tim Elliott (-130) vs. Ryan Benoit (+110)
Jimmie Rivera (-140) vs. Cody Stamann (+120)
Molly McCann (-120) vs. Taila Santos (EVEN)
Abdul Razak Alhassan (-335) against Mounir Lazzez (+275)
Thoughts: Molly McCann looks terribly underrated from where I’m sitting. Women have proven to be quality investments lately, so let’s attest to “Meatball.”
Santos’ striking 15-1 record is almost entirely fluffy; At least nine of those wins were against winless opponents. Although he has significant height and reaches an advantage against McCann, his inability to prevent Mara Romero Borella from closing the gap suggests that he will fight with McCann’s new fighting ability. Unlike Diana Belbita and Ariane Lipski, McCann should be able to defuse a rancid and aggressive striker with regular takedowns.
Parlalala with Jack Shore, who is going to destroy Aaron Philips, gives rise to positive probabilities. Go for it …
UFC on ESPN 13 Best Bets:
- Parlay – Ricardo Ramos and Tim Elliott: Bet $ 50 to win $ 95.53
- Parlay – Molly McCann and Jack Shore: Bet $ 50 to win $ 55
Is the UFC on ESPN 13 loaded with the best contenders? Not really. Probably entertaining as hell? Insurance. See you on Wednesday maniacs!
Remember that MMAmania.com will offer LIVE coverage round-by-round, hit-by-hit from the entire UFC on the ESPN 13 fight card this week, starting with the ESPN +“Preliminaries” which are scheduled to start at 7 pm ET, then the part of the main card that will also air on ESPN /ESPN + at 10 pm ET.
For the latest and greatest UFC on ESPN 13: “Kattar vs. Ige” news and notes, be sure to visit our full event archive on the right here.
