A couple new matchups have been revealed for upcoming battle cards, and I will give my thoughts on those new matchups in the current MMA odds and ends.
Glover Teixeira vs. Ion Cutelaba, UFC on ESPN 3
A light heavyweight bout between Glover Teixeira and Ion Cutelaba, that was initially set to take place back in UFC Fight Night 143, has been rescheduled for UFC on ESPN 3, taking place April 27 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Combate broke the information. Teixeira (28-7) may be 39-years old now but he revealed age doesn’t mean anything to him when he completed the younger Karl Roberson in his last departure at UFC Fight Night 143. All-time Teixeira retains a 11-5 record at the Octagon and he may not be a true title contender anymore, he is still a challenging gatekeeper and the perfect test for rising light heavyweights to continue as they seem to move up the rankings. Even late in his profession, he can still finish struggles.
Cutelaba (14-3, 1 NC) is 3-2 in the UFC and is coming from back-to-back knockout wins over Gadzhimurad Antigulov and Henrique da Silva. Only 25, Cutelaba is one of the top youthful light heavyweights in the UFC, but he’s still very much unproven. After seeing Teixeira return from being down early and finish Roberson, I believe you need to favor him to get the win against Cutelaba, though I do think Cutelaba will be more competitive than Roberson was.
Martin Day vs. Chris Gutierrez, UFC Fight Night 148
Bantamweights Martin Day and Chris Gutierrez are set to match UFC Fight Night 148 (UFC on ESPN+ 6), which takes place March 23 at Bridgestone Arena at Nashville, Tennessee. Day (8-3) endured a split decision loss to Pingyuan Liu in his UFC debut but had won three straight fights on the regional circuit prior to making his ill-fated UFC debut. Gutierrez (12-4-1) is coming from a submission reduction to Raoni Barcelos in his own UFC introduction but’d won three straight fights on the regional circuit before that too. This looks like a very close fight and that I expect the opening number to be close a Select’em given how much it seems on paper. I had slightly lean towards dawn to receive his hand raised, but it’s very close.
Boston Salmon vs. Khalid Taha, UFC 236
Bantamweights Boston Salmon and Khalid Taha will meet at UFC 236, taking place April 13 at an undisclosed venue (rumored to be in Las Vegas, Nevada). These two were set to meet at the TUF 28 Finale before the battle was scrapped. News of the rebooking stems from Shawn Bitter. Steak (6-1) picked up a decision win over Ricky Turcios about the Contender Series back in July 2017 but has not fought because due to accidents. Taha (12-2) fell a decision to Nad Narimani in his UFC debut . Given Salmon’s long layoff, it is sensible to lean towards Taha here, however provided that Taha is far from a top prospect, do not be surprised is Salmon comes through and gets the win. I’d expect a close line either way.
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