Officially over the hump now and the odds swings continue. June held two PPV’s with huge fantasy implications. My Balls Was Hot’s captain Merab Dvalishvili staking his claim for fighter of the year. Kayla Harrison announced herself and was followed by a faceoff with Amanda Nunes. The biggest fight women’s MMA has to offer right now. Will it get done in 2025 is the major question.
Pantoja was as solid ever and looks to get better with every fight. Josh Vann fighting and winning in both PPV’s and booking himself a title shot in the fight of the year keeps BRESRE’s hopes intact.
Don Bones Jones had one of the easiest watches of his life as back-to-back murmurs start to be heard around the league.
Just Bleed is starting to make his move whilst the Dropkick Murphy’s and Dangerous Rangerous will need to start thinking to next year's draft.
July Odds:
My Balls Was Hot $5
Don Bones Jones $5
Aussie Bottom Team $6
Just Bleed $6
Dana White Supremacists $7
Bisping Right Eye, Shara Right Eye $8
Dagestani Smesh Bros $10
The Last Bender $12
The Bustanutters $14
Dangerous Rangerous $25
Dropkick Murphys $35
A sliding doors moment for me here as I sit down and watch what could be the best pick out of the midseason draft take on an ageing, ranked fighter at heavyweight. I have opted to keep Nzechukwu instead, keep that in the back of your mind as you watch those two fights.
$1.37 Teixera (ABT) V Lewis (MBWH) $3.11
Watched Teixera live in Sydney earlier in the year, the man mountain is 6’7 and can throw them. UFC desperately needs a heavyweight contender so don’t be shocked if he wins this to see him get another big opportunity late in the year. Someone should hit the deck early.
$1.47 Nzechuckwu (DKM) V Walker $2.71
No hard feelings if you don’t watch this one, I’ll be watching it from the edge of the Jovanovski couch.
$1.07 Kline (DR) V Martinez $8.50
Love this pick up from DR, rarely see such a wide line in woman’s MMA, would hope at that price that a finish is on the cards, or a dominant decision.
Basically, a farewell party for Dustin Poirier who absolutely deserves it. He got the call out he wanted and is having a legacy fight for his finale. Try your best to make it through a mediocre PPV in wait for an elite main event.
$1.84 Holloway (ABT) V Poirier (TBN) $1.96
I mentioned earlier that ABT could have the mid-season draft pick of the year, but Poirier was sitting right under all our noses. A win here for the BMF will be season defining for both managers. Close to a pick em’ as a neutral sits back and enjoys.
Costa (DWS) V Kopylov
The supremacists have the building blocks to win the season, but it’s fights like these that need to go, Costa will need to put Kopylovs lights out. Entertaining fight, Kopylov is no slouch.
Ige V Pitbull (DSB)
Pitbull will need to prove a lot to his manager after flopping in his UFC debut, Ige a brawler as well. Should be an entertaining scrap, if Pitbull loses it could be curtains.
Phillips V Oliviera (DR)
Feature prelim and should be a scrap, Oliviera coming off an underdog win earlier in the year, could be a shining light and keep DR’s month moving in the right direction.
Plenty of UFFC action to go with an Australian in the main event. Lovely card but here are your options:
Brownie Point Method: Keep the missus happy and go for a nice dinner the night before, so she won’t be too disappointed when you’re on the couch at 5am in your jocks the next morning.
Bill Bart Method: Catch the full card at kick ons. No commentary just tunes blasting over the speakers. Make sure you don’t run out before the main event, don’t need to be falling asleep on the couch for the big one.
$1.66 Whittaker V De Ridder (TLB) $2.18
Will be an interesting fight for the ultimate gatekeeper. De Ridder coming off a dominant win to a highly touted up and comer. Whittaker often puts these guys back in their place, but he has come off a devastating loss.
Evloev (DKM) V Pico (DBJ)
The only reason I’m not $1000-1 right now is the sliver of hope that Evloev gets a title shot come years end. DBJ taking me on in a season definer, pretty average behaviour.
$1.24 Yan (DWS) V McGhee (TBN) $3.95
Yan needs to do anything in his power to prove he could be next for Merab, a dominant win needs to be displayed here, odds suggest a beatdown.
Ribas (DBJ) V Ricci (MBWH)
Random as that both these fighters are taken, all the best boys.
Mitchell (DWS) V Nurmagomedov (DSB)
Mitchell share common beliefs with Dagestani men, could both catch up for a fish after the fight?
Krylov V Guskov (BRESRE)
Pretty good fight, thinking we’ll see a finish. BRESRE hard to get a read on right now but will just need a few wins like this if title fights go their way.
$1.18 Magomedev V Andre Barriault $4.70
Busy month for DR. Magomedov got fraud checked but he could be good as a bonus guy for the rest of the season, this fight is a golden opportunity.
Bit of a quieter month after packing 5 cards into June, important time to have active fighters as the turnaround time between fights starts getting closer and closer to the end of the year. Look forward to watching with some fellow UFFC managers this weekend, followed by a run back of UFC 78 on DVD.
Signing off, Deputy Commissioner, Joel Murphy.