UFC Fight Night Preview And Picks

UFC Apex - Las Vegas, NV

Fight Night returns to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on July 20th. The event doesn't feature the big names that will be on display at the upcoming UFC 304 in London. Yet, there are still some exciting matches. I've taken a closer look at a few of the more interesting ones. 

For the second straight week, the ladies will take center stage. That says a lot about how far the women's game has come. This one should be both more competitive and more exciting than last week's 5-round decision win by Namajunas over Cortez. 

At 37 years old, Amanda Lemos (14-3-1) is still competing at a high level. Lemos is off a decision victory in her last fight and she's won eight of her last 10. The Brazilian has been fighting tough competition. Her only loss in the last 2 years came against Welie Zhang, one of the best in the world. Off three straight wins, 36-year old Virna Jandiroba, also of Brazil, has a 20-3 record. Jandiroba has 12 submission victories on her resume. She's never been knocked and she's never been submitted. 

This should be a great battle between two quality fighters from the same country. Jandiroba is a small favorite. The total for the 5-round fight is 2.5 over -188. Lemos is tough but Jandiroba's exemplary grappling skills are likely to make the difference.

The Co-Main Event

Jun Yong "The Iron Turtle" Park (17-6)  is off a split decision loss. The 33-year old Korean fighter had won his previous four rights. Brad Tavares (20-9) is 36-years old. He's off a loss and has dropped 3 of his past 4 fights. He's just 3-5 his past eight. To be fair, he's fought some very tough opposition. Losses came against guys like Adesanya and Du Plessis. He beat Chris Weidman less than a year ago. 

The Iron Turtle would like to get this fight to the ground but Tavares typically has a pretty good takedown defense. Tavares would prefer to stay standing but Park also lands more significant strikes per minute and has a higher striking accuracy.

Park is a mid-sized favorite. A look at the o/u line reveals that there is considerable juice on the over 2.5 rounds. Park's last fight was the 9th decision of his career. Considering that 17 or Tavares' 29 fights have gone the distance, you might want to lay the wood with the over 2.5 rounds.

Fight Of The Night?

As the line suggests, this fight between a pair of promising flyweights could go either way. A native of Covington Georgia, Cody Durden (16-5) checks in off a 2nd round submission loss to Tagir Ulanbekov in December. Prior to that, he was on a four-fight winning streak. Brazilian Bruno "Bulldog" Silva (13-5-2) submitted Tyson Nam in the second frame at UFC Fight Night 221. It marked his 3rd straight victory. 

Durden (33) has the grappling advantage but Silva (34) is the superior striker. Durden, who has a 4-inch height advantage, will be attempting numerous takedowns. However, Silva is quite adept with his takedown defense. Silva has had 2 previous draws and Durden has also had 1. Could this be another? 

Mohammed Usman (10-3) doesn't possess the skills that his older brother does but he's got enough to have his way with an out of shape Thomas Petersen (8-2). Usman, 237 pounds, lost a decision in his last fight. He'd won 3 straight before that and he's never lost 2 in a row. Petersen has never won by decision and he's only won once by submission. When Petersen, 257 pounds, wins the victories almost always come by KO/TKO. But Usman has never been knocked out. Petersen seems to be another hand-picked opponent. Take Usman.