UFC Vegas 50 | Main Card Preview
Saturday, March 12th (7:00 PM EST Main Card, 4:00 PM EST Prelims)
Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev
WATCH - #6 light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev has been on a war path to the top since his UFC debut. A war path that has gotten progressively less violent and less entertaining to watch the further up he's gotten. Unfortunately, #5 Thiago Santos is no longer the kind of fighter who is going to reignite Ankalaev into the risky and exciting exchanges he used to go for. His fights since he lost his title shot against Jon Jones have been devoid of energy and that isn't something easy to change when you are on the wrong side of 35. We need an even further washed Santos who Ankalaev can finish early without taking risks to get a finish in this one. It is a watch for the title implications, not for the likelihood of a close engaging matchup.
Marlon Moraes vs. Song Yadong
WATCH - #10 bantamweight Marlon Moraes has had a very different downward slope compared to Thiago Santos, taking even more risks since his failed title shot and getting punished for it. Although this leads to much worse outcomes for Moraes, it makes for much more exciting fights and #14 Song Yadong is an incredibly young, powerful, striking, beast who will be looking to take advantage of any opportunity to end Moraes's night early.
Sodiq Yusuff vs. Alex Caceres
WATCH - Are you still a journeyman if you win 5 fights in a row? #15 Caceres has been a constant in the depths of the featherweight division and it has finally come together for him over a decade after he first entered the UFC. This fight against the over-ranked and underwhelming#12 Sodiq Yusuff is Caceres's best shot at erasing his mediocre past, and sealing his legacy as a real contender. (If Yusuff wins lets all pretend we wrote about him getting an easy bounce back fight against a journeyman)
Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Karl Roberson
BATHROOM BREAK - Bottom tier journeyman middleweight goes up a division to take on a declining light heavyweight. This is either going to be the worst fight on the entire card, or Karl Roberson is going to be the next Thiago Santos/Anthony Smith in which a mediocre middleweight instantly becomes a contender when entering the trash heap that is the light heavyweight division. I'm leaning towards the former.
Due to some technical difficulties we will be including the Dober vs. McKinney and Pereira vs. Silva breakdowns in the Prelim Preview on Thursday
*Nothing contained in this post is financial advice, please bet at your own risk