Pietro Menga will make his UFC debut at UFC on FOX 26 on Saturday in Winnipeg, as he takes on Tim Elliott. Menga comes into the fight unbeaten at 13-0 with 11 finishes, while Elliott is 14-8-1, including 3-6 in the UFC. This fight is one of six on a busy preliminary card on FS1 leading up to a four-fight main card on FOX that features Robbie Lawler taking on Rafael dos Anjos. Let’s take a look at Elliott vs. Menga.
Bet on UFC at BookMaker.eu
Elliott has had his ups and downs in his career and in the UFC it has been mostly down. He has fought nine times in the UFC in two separate stints and lost twice as many fights as he has won. He began his career in 2012 and lost to John Dodson but he bounced back to defeat Jared Papazian and Louis Gaudinot. Those two wins were the last for Elliott for a while, as he suffered losses to Ali Bagautinov, Joseph Benavidez and Zach Makovsky. A three-fight losing streak in the UFC usually means you get cut and that is what happened to Elliott early in 2015. Elliott went to Titan FC and won his three fights in that organization and the UFC brought him back in 2016. Elliott couldn’t handle Demetrious Johnson in a unanimous decision loss late in 2016 but he did defeat Louis Smolka by unanimous decision in April of this year. Elliott is coming off a loss to Ben Nguyen in June of this year, as he was submitted in the first round.
Menga is stepping in on short notice and replacing Justin Scoggins who is hurt. Menga is a UK fighter who is unbeaten at 13-0. He said to the Manchester Evening News that he wants to follow in the footsteps of fellow Manchester fighter Michael Bisping. "Michael Bisping has been representing Manchester for so long in the UFC and he's not done too bad, and now I'm prepared to take on the responsibility and keep Manchester on the map."
Menga said that he has nothing to lose fighting on short notice. "All of the pressure is on him when usually it's on me as I'd be fighting these up and coming prospects, so it's different and I like that," he said. Menga said he would really like to fight in London in March but that he isn’t overlooking Elliott. "I'm not looking past Tim Elliott and the next fight is always the toughest, but I'd be over the moon if I could get on that London card in March," he said.
Menga is coming off a first round knockout of Spencer Hewitt at Bellator 158. That fight was in July of last year so Menga has had a layoff but he said he has been busy. “I had four training camps last year and three fights fell through. On paper it doesn’t look like I had a busy year but it definitely was.”
UFC Picks
This is a definite clash of styles, as Elliott would prefer to get this fight to the mat while Menga wants to keep it standing. I think Menga has a real chance to win this fight and get the knockout, as Elliott hasn’t shown he is a great UFC fighter. I will take Menga at the nice price to get the upset win.
UFC on FOX 26 takes place on Saturday, December 16 at the Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. There are four fights on the main card featuring Robbie Lawler vs. Rafael dos Anjos and eight preliminary bouts, with six on FS1 and two on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (FOX)
Rafael dos Anjos -121 vs. Robbie Lawler
Ricard Lamas -265 vs. Josh Emmett
Santiago Ponzinibbio -191 vs. Mike Perry
Misha Cirkunov -169 vs. Glover Teixeira
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Jared Cannonier -180 vs. Jan Blachowicz
Julian Marquez -260 vs. Darren Stewart
Chad Laprise -160 vs. Galore Bofando
Tim Elliott -255 vs. Pietro Menga
Abel Trujillo -200 vs. John Makdessi
Oluwale Bamgbose -120 vs. Alessio Di Chirico
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Jordan Mein -135 vs. Erick Silva
Nordine Taleb -145 vs. Danny Roberts
How to Bet
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker sportsbook! Real-time spreads, totals, props and money line are all available so start betting with BookMaker today.
