Ashkan Mokhtarian makes his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 110 on Sunday in New Zealand, as he takes on John Moraga in one of the six fights on the preliminary card on FS1. Mokhtarian is 13-1 in his career and has won his last six fights, while Moraga is 16-6 and on a three-fight losing streak. There are six fights on the main card at UFC Fight Night 110 including the feature bout between Derrick Lewis and Mark Hunt. Keep in mind that since this event is in New Zealand, it will have an earlier start time in the U.S., taking place on Saturday night. Let’s look at Moraga vs. Mokhtarian and UFC predictions.
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John Moraga (16-6, 5-5 UFC)
Moraga is facing a critical fight in his career, as he comes into this bout having lost three in a row. He made his UFC debut in 2012 and won his first two fights but then lost to Demetrious Johnson in 2013. He did bounce back to beat Dustin Ortiz in 2014 but then he lost to John Dodson later that year. It was a busy 2014 for Moraga, as he fought two more times and beat Justin Scoggins and Willie Gates. He fought just once in 2015 and lost to Joseph Benavidez. He fought just once in 2016 and lost a split decision to Matheus Nicolau. The last fight for Moraga was earlier this year, as he lost to Sergio Pettis in January.
Moraga has most of his success on the mat, as three of his last four wins have come by submission. He has five first round finishes in his career.
Ashkan Mokhtarian (13-1, UFC debut)
There is a lot to like about Mokhtarian, as he comes into this fight at 13-1, having won six straight. He turned pro just over five years ago and has looked good. He has won almost half of his fights by submission. 12 of his 13 wins have come by either submission or knockout. The only loss for Mokhtarian came to Edwin Arana in 2014 and that was by submission.
Mokhtarian said on the UFC website that he has a lot of respect for Moraga but that he is ready. “John’s a veteran with a big heart, and he brings that Mexican style to the cage, which I love. I have a lot of respect for John, but it’s my time.”
Fight Notes
This should be one of the more competitive UFC cards, as only one fighter is listed with odds of more than 3-1 (Alex Volkanovski) and half of the fights have the favorite listed with odds of less than 2-1.
UFC Picks
The early UFC odds had Moraga listed as the -220 favorite against Mokhtarian. I think that number is too high, as I give Mokhtarian a real chance to win. The rounds are listed at 2.5 with the over a big favorite. I don’t get that number either, as the most likely outcome in this fight is one of the two winning by submission. I will take Mokhtarian to win at plus money and also play the rounds at plus money to go under the total of 2.5.
UFC Fight Night 110 takes place on June 11, 2017 at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. The feature bout on a six-fight main card, which can be seen on FS1, has Derrick Lewis taking on Mark Hunt. There are six preliminary bouts, with four on FS1 and two on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (FS1)
Derrick Lewis vs. Mark Hunt
Derek Brunson vs. Dan Kelly
Dan Hooker vs. Ross Pearson
Ion Cutelaba vs. Henrique da Silva
Tim Elliott vs. Ben Nguyen
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Mizuto Hirota
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Damien Brown vs. Vinc Pichel
John Moraga vs. Ashkan Mokhtarian
Dominique Steele vs. Luke Jumeau
Kiichi Kunimoto vs. Zak Ottow
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
JJ Aldrich vs. Chan-Mi Jeon
Thibault Gouti vs. Dong Hyun Kim
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