With UFC Fight Night 85 in the books, let’s look ahead to the promotion’s next event: UFC Fight Night 86 in Zagreb, Croatia. Headlined by a high-stakes bout between Ben Rothwell and Junior dos Santos, the card is also notable because of the sheer number of heavyweight bouts on it.
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MAIN EVENT, HEAVYWEIGHTS
Ben Rothwell -120
Junior dos Santos +100
Over/under 1.5 rounds, over -145, under +125
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Based on the eyeball test, there’s no reason why Ben Rothwell should be ranked No. 4 by the UFC. He isn’t particularly fast or athletic, possesses an awkward, herky-jerky style and has major dadbod. But he’s won four in a row, and that includes a knockout win over a former kickboxing world champion in Alistair Overeem and a submission win over a submission specialist in Josh Barnett. We simply cannot overlook Rothwell anymore.
Dos Santos has never looked the same since losing his belt to Cain Velasquez in 2012. He’s 2-2 in his past four fights, and every one of them have been absolute wars. He was TKO’d in both of his losses, and the wins were brutal bouts of attrition against Mark Hunt and Stipe Miocic.
Although the Brazilian isn’t necessarily old at 32 years of age, he does not seem to be handling the wear and tear of the fight game as well as some of his peers. Against Overeem, the renowned boxer was surprisingly tentative, which could be a sign of growing self-doubt. A loss to Rothwell wouldn’t help, as it would set him on the first losing streak of his career
POINTS OF INTEREST
Ruslan Magomedov vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Timothy Johnson vs. Marcin Tybura
Maryna Moroz vs. Christina Stanciu
Ruslan Magomedov is a 14-1 heavyweight prospect who has won all three of his bouts inside the octagon. Heavyweight is a division where under-30 prospects are becoming increasingly rare, so the Dagestani native has a huge opportunity to make a statement against a former title challenger in Gabriel Gonzaga. What might Magomeodov’s marketability is his habit of fighting to decision.
If you wanna watch big men bang, don’t miss the bout between Timothy Johnson and former M-1 champion Marcin Tybura. Johnson has stoppages in all of his nine career victories, and Tybura has finished his opponents in 11 of 13 wins. Johnson doesn’t project to be much more than mid-card filler, but Tybura’s status as the M-1 champion makes him a person of intrigue.
Strawweight Maryna Maroz was unable to follow up her impressive debut win over JoJo Calderwood and was outpointed by Valerie Letourneau in her last outing. Still, the Ukrainian submission artist is just 24 and has the talent to be a player at 115-pounds. Beating an undefeated Christina Stanciu, who will be making her UFC debut, would get her back on the right track.
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Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker sportsbook! You can even wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Money lines, totals, props and money line are all available now. UFC Fight Night 86 takes place on April 10, 2016 at the Zagreb Arena in Zagreb, Croatia. The card will be televised on Fox Sports 1 starting 2 p.m. ET
