UFC Fight Night 80 Date: September 10, 2015 Arena: The Chelsea City: Las Vegas, NV The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be live from Las Vegas, NV on Thursday, December 10 with UFC Fight Night 80: Namajunas vs Van Zant. The stacked 11 fight card kicks off a three-card UFC weekend and will be live entirely on UFC Fight Pass, with the main card getting going 10pm ET and preliminary action preciding it at 6:45pm ET. If interested in wagering on any bouts for this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. My Fights to AVOID betting are: Welterweight bout: Andreas Stahl (+165) vs Santiago Ponzinibbio (-190) Gabe’s Thoughts: This is the second Octagon appearance for the Swede, who made his promotional debut against Gilbert Burns, and although having the size advantage, was outgrappled for three rounds of action en route to a unanimous decision defeat on the judges’ scorecars. Now after a near year and a half layoff, he makes his return to the Octagon to take out Ponzinibbio, who is coming off a devastating knockout loss at the hands of Lorenz Larkin. The Argentian is the superior mixed martial artist and is the better fighter on paper, however I think Stahl has a legitimate chance at upsetting him in this contest. I think the betting odds should be a lot closer than they currently are, as I see this fight going either way. Initially, at first glance, I assumed this would be an easy win for Ponzinibbio and was eyeing him for a key piece to a parlay, but after doing my homework on the fight, I no longer feel that way and think this is a “dog or pass” situation, and ultimately, it has to be a has for me as for as a wager is concerned. This will be a fight I avoid at the sportsbooks come Thursday night. As for my official pick, I keep going back and forth, but at the moment I’m gonna lean towards the Argentinian to edge out the Swede. Gabe’s Call: Ponzinibbio by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: AVOID Featherweight bout: Phillipe Nover (+270) vs Zubaira Tukhugov (-330) Gabe’s Thoughts: I agree with Tukhugov being the betting favorite in this 145-pound contest, however I do not agree with his current heavy-juiced offering price of -330. I think he should be a 2-to-1 favorite in this spot, which means at these odds, I believe the value to be with Nover, who looks for his second straight victory in his second stint with the promotion. I think he has a chance of upsetting Tukhugov in this match-up and see this as another “dog or pass” situation. I can’t blame anybody for taking a shot with the veteran here, however I can’t personally get myself to pull the trigger against the tough, 24-year old, constantly improving Chechnyan in this spot, even at the appealing underdog tag of +270. This will be another fight I avoid getting my wallet involved with come time for UFC Fight Night 80. Gabe’s Call: Tukhugov by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: AVOID
