UFC Fight Night 83 Date: February 21, 2016 Arena: Consol Energy Center City: Pittsburgh, PA The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Pittsburgh, PA for the second time in promotional history with UFC Fight Night 83: Cowboy vs Cowboy. The main card will be live on FOX Sports 1 at 9pm ET, with preliminary action preciding it on the same channel at 7pm ET. If interested in wagering on any plays for this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. My Over/Under Totals are: Women’s Bantamweight bout: Ashlee Evans-Smith (+165) vs Marion Reneau (-175) Gabe’s Thoughts: I think this women’s bantamweight contest goes past 2.5 rounds more often than not, so at +102, I like it for a small play. I expect this to be a closely contested bout and could see it going either way. At these odds, I believe this fight is a “dog or pass” situation, but personally, I am not looking to make a straight play on either fighter here, as I think a victory for either of them comes on the judges’ scorecards more often than not. Evans-Smith was submitted in the first round of action by Raquel Pennington last year in what was her promotional debut, and she will be hungry for her first Octagon victory in this contest. Reneau is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Holly Holm, also last year, and is eager to get back into the win column. This is an important fight for both 135-pounders, and I expect them to deliver, likely resulting in a 15-minute war. Gabe’s Call: Reneau by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Over 2.5 rounds (+102) 1u to win 1.02u Heavyweight bout: Anthony Hamilton (+105) vs Shamil Abdurakhimov (-115) Gabe’s Thoughts: I think this is going to be a close fight and I favor Hamilton to get his hand raised, but I see more value in the Total of Over 1.5 rounds at +102 than I do in Hamilton straight up at +105. I think both of these heavyweights stand a decent shot at winning this fight on the judges’ scorecards and think this is a rare heavyweight fight that stands a good chance of going all three rounds to a judges’ decision. Gabe’s Call: Hamilton by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Over 1.5 rounds (+102) 1u to win 1.02u
