UFC fight night Rodriguez vs Lemos goes down at Las Vegas in the UFC Apex on Sunday, 5th November, this bout was originally meant to be a featherweight contest between Bryce Mitchell vs Movsar Evloev, but unfortunately, that bout got scrapped mid-October due to Evloev pulling out with an injury, which in turn pushed this card a new headline. All the way over the other side of the pond, we have a stacked card in ‘Cage Warriors 145’ ready to take over the Indigo at the O2 arena in London on Friday, 4th November.
UFC Vegas 64 Picks:
Neil Magny VS Daniel Rodriguez – Rodriguez to win 1/1
Neil Magny is stepping into the Octagon for the third time this year in his quest to become a top-ten welterweight fighter once again. He’s 1-1 this year, that loss coming in his last fight against the impressive Shavkat Rakhmnonov via submission. Before that, he won against Max Griffin via a split decision. Daniel “D-Rod” Rodriguez is coming off an impressive four-fight win streak against top opponents. Due to injuries, he’s been sidelined most of this year, but to end the year with a 2-0 record, that’ll move him ever closer to the glorified top ten rankings. We expect this fight to be very close, a decision likely for either man, but “D-Rod” has that bit more momentum at the moment. Therefore we believe that will give him that slight edge.
Marina Rodriguez VS Amanda Lemos – Rodriguez to win 5/11
Marina Rodriquez has been so impressive since joining the UFC, currently on a 4-fight win streak against the very elite woman of this division, sitting on the number 5 ranking with the only loss on her professional career coming in the way of the current champ (Carla Esparza) via split decision, it would be hard to not make a case that if she can win here, she could be one more fight away from competing for the strawweight championship. On the other side of the Octagon, we have the slick finisher in Amanda Lemos, coming off a performance of the night fight against Michelle Waterson, which Lemos won via guillotine choke in round number 2. Lemos looks better the more we see her. We think the smarter money should be placed on Rodriguez as we believe she has faced and beaten better opponents.
Cage Warriors 145 picks:
Caolan Loughran VS Luke Shanks – Caolan to win 5/9
2-0 This year for Irishman Caolan Loughran, who seems to be making quick work of his fellow opponents, finishing his last two in the second round. Currently, on an 8-fight win streak, Caolan seems more than ready to take on what is to be his toughest test yet in Luke Shanks. Shanks is currently ranked number 1 in the pro-UK/Ireland bantamweights and is on a 2-fight win streak, a crafty, dangerous opponent who knows how to finish a fight and is good in all MMA aspects. Caolan just seems to be coming in with this confidence and energy that you can’t go against, he trains with some of the very best, and when you put performances like he has been, again, you just can’t go against it even if the experience does go to Shanks, we think Caolan for the win is the smart move.
James Sheehan VS Jamie Richardson – Sheehan to Win 5/8
James “Jimbo Slice” Sheehan is having a great year so far, collecting two wins, both finishes coming via KO/TKO. His last loss came from Ian Garry, who is doing great things in the UFC currently, so there is no shame in that whatsoever. Jamie “Young Gun” Richardson, currently 8th in UK/Ireland pro welterweight rankings, is looking to grab his first win of the year. After his bout with Fleminas got scrapped, you know he must be itching to get back into the cage and make a statement; Richardson, an MMA fighter who loves to strike, will welcome the standup battle with Sheehan. We believe Sheehan will just have that little bit more nastiness in his strikes. Therefore we are placing our money there.
Jordan Vucenic VS Paul Hughes – Vucenic to win 20/23
The Cage warrior’s featherweight champion Jordan “The Epidemic” Vucenic is set to defend his strap for the second time this year. The first defence took only two rounds before he pulled off a class-standing rear naked choke on James Hendin, then once again proving why he is the best featherweight in the Cage Warrior’s organization. Looking to take that all from him is Paul Hughes, an all-round dangerous MMA fighter who is currently on a 2-fight win streak. Both of these fighters were due to scrap at the beginning of the year, but unfortunately, the bout got cancelled, so both of these class MMA fighters have had plenty of time to do their homework on one another and come up with the gameplan to success. Tough fight to call, but we think Vucenic is riding that wave and has looked unbeatable at times, so we will part our money here.
Summary:
£10 stake on an accumulator returns £162.97. So that’s all from us, be sure to check out both UFC and Cage Warriors events this weekend, they are both sure to be bangers, also check out our articles at Combats Sports for full breakdown and analysis on the fights this weekend. please also note that odds may change since you read this article.
Featured image credits to Cage Warriors and UFC
