Ryan LaFlare is a slight favorite to defeat Alex Garcia at UFC Fight Night 128 on Saturday in New Jersey on FS1. LaFlare is 13-2 in his career but he is coming off a loss to Alex Oliveira last time out, while Garcia is 15-4 and coming off a win against Muslim Salikhov. There are six fights on the main card at UFC Fight Night 128 on FS1 and seven preliminary bouts, with four on FS1 and three on UFC Fight Pass. Let’s look at LaFlare vs. Garcia and UFC predictions.
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Ryan LaFlare (13-2, 6-2 UFC)
LaFlare started his career going 11-0 but he was defeated by Demian Maia in March of 2015. LaFlare rebounded to defeat Mike Pierce later that year. It was more than a year before the next fight for LaFlare, as he beat Roan Carneiro in February of 2017. LaFlare is coming off a knockout loss to Alex Oliveira last July.
LaFlare said to Newsday that the knockout really affected him. “Obviously, it affects you, but I think it affected the people around me more than it affected me,” LaFlare said, “Whatever, I knew what happened. I was fine, I wasn’t like in a whole ‘nother world afterward.” LaFlare said the knockout won’t affect his outlook going forward. “The KO doesn’t have much effect,” LaFlare said. “Just keep my hands up and don’t rush in.”
LaFlare has been a pro since 2008 and he has four knockout wins and three wins by submission. He has four first round finishes.
LaFlare said the matchup against Garcia is a good one for him. “I think Garcia is a very good matchup for me. I think he’s extremely explosive, very strong. I think he prides himself as being a wrestler, which is good for me because I think I’m a more scrappy, scrambling wrester,” LaFlare said. “I think I set up my takedowns better than he does. He looks like he’s pretty decent on the ground, but I don’t think that’s anything that’s going to threaten me.”
Alex Garcia (15-4, 5-3 UFC)
Garcia has alternated wins and losses in his last six fights. He is coming off a submission win against Salikhov last November. Garcia started his UFC career by winning his first two fights, as he defeated Ben Wall and Sean Spencer. It has been up and down for Garcia since that time with wins over Mike Swick, Mike Pyle and Salikhov, but losses to Neil Magny, Sean Strickland and Tim Means.
Garcia has been a pro since 2009 and he has six wins by knockout and six by submission. He has ten first round finishes.
UFC Picks
I think this is a good matchup for LaFlare, as he is the better overall fighter and he has proven to be more reliable in the UFC than has Garcia. I will lay the short price and look for Garcia to get the win on Saturday night.
UFC Fight Night 128 takes place on Saturday, April 21, 2018, at Boardwalk Hallin Atlantic City, New Jersey, with a lightweight match between Edson Barboza and Kevin Lee as the event headliner. There are six fights on the main card that can be seen on FS1 and seven preliminary bouts, with four on FS1 and three on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (FS1)
Lightweight – Kevin Lee -145 vs. Edson Barboza
Featherweight – Frankie Edgar -225 vs. Cub Swanson
Heavyweight – Justin Willis -350 vs. Chase Sherman
Middleweight – Thiago Santos -210 vs. David Branch
Bantamweight – Brett Johns -115 vs. Aljamain Sterling
Lightweight – Dan Hooker -345 vs. Jim Miller
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Welterweight – Ryan LaFlare -145 vs. Alex Garcia
Flyweight – Magomed Bibulatov -350 vs. Ulka Sasaki
Welterweight – Siyar Bahadurzada -115 vs. Luan Chagas
Light Heavyweight – Corey Anderson -120 vs. Patrick Cummins
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Women’s Bantamweight – Aspen Ladd -145 vs. Leslie Smith
Bantamweight – Ricky Simon -170 vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Welterweight – Tony Martin -235 vs. Keita Nakamura
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