A number of new UFC bouts were announced over the weekend, and for today’s MMA Odds and Ends I’ll give my quick thoughts on all the new fights. Dennis Siver vs. Charles Rosa, UFC Fight Night 53 After the Swedish athletic commission wouldn’t clear Taylor Lapilus to fight Dennis Siver on short notice, top prospect from American Top Team Charles Rosa will now fight the veteran Siver this weekend at UFC Fight Night 53, which takes place October 4 at Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Siver was originally set to fight Robert Whiteford, then Lapilus, and now Rosa, so even though he’s had his opponent switched multiple times he should still be in great shape for the fight. Having said that, Siver is also coming into this bout off of a nine-month PED suspension, and that’s the biggest red flag here for me, as we’ve seen time and time again that when guys test positive for PEDs, they often lose their next fight. Rosa is a top prospect and I have been looking forward to his UFC debut for a while as I believe he has a lot of potential. However, he’s taking this fight on extremely short notice and has to fly halfway around the world for it. So there’s some things going against him too. A betting line for this fight will be released in the coming days, and it’s expected Siver will be the favorite going into the bout, although I really thin based on the PED thing it’s probably best to pass and look for other fights to bet as this could very well be a letdown spot for the German. Ovince St-Preux vs. Francimar Barroso, UFC Fight Night 56 Rafael Feijao is injured and out of his fight against Ovince St-Preux at UFC Fight Night 56, and now St-Preux will fight replacement opponent Francimar Barroso at the event, which takes place November 8 at Ginasio Municipal Tancredo Neves in Uberlandia, Brazil St-Preux isn’t as special as many thought, but he’s still a top 15 light heavyweight, something which Barroso is not. Although St-Preux has flaws in his game, I don’t think Barroso is the guy to exploit them. This really does look like a mismatch to me and I have a hard time seeing how Barroso can win the fight. Look for St-Preux to be a big favorite in this fight as he looks to rebound from his loss to Ryan Bader and keep moving back up the 205lb ladder. Trevor Smith vs. Caio Magalhaes, UFC Fight Night 56 A middleweight bout between Trevor Smith and Caio Magalhaes was also added to UFC Fight Night 56. It’s a pretty interesting fight actually, and I could realistically see either guy winning. Smith has looked solid as of late, while Magalhaes is coming into this fight off of a quick knockout over Luke Zachrich. This is a fight that can go either way but I slightly lean towards Magalhaes to get things done down in Brazil. Colby Covington vs. Wagner Silva, UFC Fight Night 56 And finally, a welterweight bout between Colby Covington and Wagner Silva was also added to UFC Fight Night 56. Covington is one of the top prospects in the sport and showed his potential in his UFC debut, winning by submission due to strikes, while Silva, a TUF Brazil 3 vet, lost in his promotional debut to Ricardo Abreu. I’m not sure why the UFC is booking this fight but I definitely like Covington here, and feel like he should be a huge favorite entering the bout.
