courtesy of mmaweekly.com

With TUF 17 wrapped up and in the books, fight fans can now look forward to see either Uriah Hall or Kelvin Gastelum crowned as the next Ultimate Fighter. Not only that, but also intense showdowns between Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen, as well as others. This card is a solid card to place bets on, as upsets are bound to happen!

The Odds (According to fantasy betting site mmaplayground.com)

Scott Jorgensen +640
Urijah Faber -680

Cat Zingano +360
Miesha Tate -400

Cole Miller +100
Bart Palaszewski -110

Daniel Pineda +105
Justin Lawrence -115

Sam Sicilia -100
Maximo Blanco -130

Gabriel Gonzaga +215
Travis Browne -240

Kelvin Gastelum +640
Uriah Hall -680

Gilbert Smith Jr. +260
Robert McDaniel -275

Kevin Casey +580
Josh Samman -620

Collin Hart +205
Luke Barnatt -230

Bristol Marunde +185
Clint Hester -200

Jimmy Quinlan +100
Dylan Andrews -110

Smart Bets

Collin Hart over Luke Barnatt – After seeing both of these guys compete on the latest season of the Ultimate Fighter, I’ve came to the conclusion that Luke Barnatt can be inconsistent. At times, he seems like a tough scrappy kid; other times, he seems fairly weak and not very fighter-spirited. In his bout against Dylan Andrews, Barnatt displayed that he had a good chin, taking and absorbing almost everything that was thrown at him. Eventually, Barnatt was unable to withstand the constant pressure and was finished. While I don’t think Collin Hart possesses the same threat on the feet that Andrews did, I think he possesses it on the ground in the wrestling department. With Hart as a +205 underdog, you got to bank on the wrestler to out-wrestle the taller, lankier Barnat, and make him quit.

Gilbert Smith Jr. over Bubba McDaniel – I’m going to very curious to see whether Jones has personally worked with McDaniel since his time on The Ultimate Fighter. For being Jones’s top pick, and “representing” his camp, he did not perform too well. If nothing has changed since then, and McDaniel has just continued to be the annoying cry-baby that he appeared to be on the show, then expect Gilbert Smith to crush him. Neither of these guys are very good on the feet, and I give the edge in strength and submissions to Gil. At a +260 underdog, Smith is a very smart pick.

Kelvin Gastelum over Uriah Hall – Being a +640 underdog coming into this fight really surprised me. While Hall has received lots of credit and praise for his victories, he’s not the only that has been impressive. Gastelum was a last-place pick, and won his way to the finals by causing upsets. Heading into this fight, it’ll be nothing different. Gastelum is aggressive, in-your-face, and could give Hall problems. Being a huge underdog, Gastelum is too good not to try your luck on.

Gabriel Gonzaga over Travis Browne – This fight for me is the pick of the card. Gonzaga being an underdog shocked me. I thought these odds would be about even if not favored towards Gonzaga. Gonzaga is on a two-fight win streak in the UFC, both via submission. Gonzaga has the style to beat Browne; he’s a hard hitter with a killer ground game and is a style that Browne has not faced before. Gonzaga is my personal favorite to win this fight.

Parlays:

(High Stakes)
Dylan Andrews
Collin Hart
Gabriel Gonzaga

Clint Hester
Gilbert Smith Jr.
Cat Zingano

(Low Stakes)
Dylan Andrews
Clint Hester
Bart Palaszewski

Collin Hart
Justin Lawrence
Miesha Tate

-That’s all for Odds & Smart Bets. Stay tuned for more coverage! Thanks for reading 🙂