Middleweight submission specialist Marvin “The Italian Dream” Vettori (2 KOs, 8 SUBs) will meet Karl “Baby K” Roberson (9-2, 2 KOs, 4 SUBs) at UFC Fight Night: Eye vs. Calvillo on Saturday, June 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card stream live on ESPN.
Marvin Vettori is raging to fight. Since March, the Italian has had two of his bouts cancelled - causing him to snap. In an Instagram post that went viral, Vettori can be seen confronting Karl Roberson with an expletive-filled tirade. Roberson was the only fighter to miss weight, pulling out just hours before he was scheduled to meet Vettori inside the cage.
In the video, Vettori had to be pulled away from Roberson by security screaming “Let’s f*cking fight! You look like you can f*cking fight, then f*cking fight you b*tch ass. F*cking five months of preparation. Then f*cking fight if you can fight! Fight me now!”
Roberson requested to rebook the fight, and his wish was granted. Let’s hope he can get past his weight cutting issues and make it into the octagon healthy. While it was unfortunate that their original matchup was postponed, the hotel confrontation definitely brought more hype to their matchup. A little bad blood always helps to promote a fight.
Vettori is an interesting prospect at 185 pounds. Just three fights ago, he lost a close split decision against current champion Israel Adesanya. Since then, he’s won two straight, beating an underrated Cezar Ferreira and Andrew Sanchez. Roberson has won two straight as well, most recently submitting Roman Kopylov in November 2019.
Let’s take a look at the UFC odds at BookMaker.eu and break down the money lines, round totals, prop bets, and more. Live UFC betting at the online sportsbook also lets you bet on real-time odds updates during the fight.
UFC Odds at BookMaker.eu
Karl Roberson +159
Marvin Vettori -201
Fight goes/doesn’t go to decision: -205 / +165
Significant Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Vettori 4.05 / Roberson 3.16
Striking accuracy: Vettori 41% / Roberson 52%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Vettori 2.85 / Roberson 1.8
Striking defense: Vettori 66% / Roberson 64%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Vettori 1.43 / Roberson 1.07
Takedown accuracy: Vettori 45% / Roberson 57%
Takedown defense: Vettori 80% / Roberson 53%
Submission average: Vettori 0.6 / Roberson 0.8
Bet on UFC odds at the online sportsbook
Vettori has made steady improvements since making his UFC debut a few years ago - to the point where we might have to start considering him as a top 15 guy. He’s most comfortable as a pressure striker, and the Italian does enough things well to justify his aggression. With a mix of combination punching, clinch fighting and solid takedowns, Vettori has evolved to a point where he’s a tough out for anyone in the division.
Roberson is a former pro kickboxer who managed a 3-3 pro record. After three wins in amateur MMA, the 29-year old appeared in DWCS and submitted Ryan Spann with a guillotine choke, earning him a contract with the big show. As expected, Roberson has done well when given the opportunity to strike but was outgunned by excellent grapplers like Cezar Ferreira and Glover Teixeira. There is still time for him to get better, but he’s still got a long ways to go to separate himself from the middle of the pack. The physical talent is there though.
UFC Odds Pick: Vettori to win at -202
Vettori has a few ways to win this. Obviously, the easiest avenue would be for him to take this matchup to the ground and exploit Roberson’s weak grappling. But we think that Vettori could plausibly win a kickboxing matchup as well. Roberson does have explosive striking, which presents some risk, but he can be stifled by high pressure and close-quarters combat. Vettori has lost bouts before because of his insistence on pressure striking, but that won’t be the case here.
Main Card ESPN/ESPN+
Women's Flyweight- Jessica Eye -113 vs. Cynthia Calvillo
Middleweight- Marvin Vettori -201 vs. Karl Roberson
Bantamweight- Merab Dvalishvili -389 vs. Ray Borg
Featherweight- Andre Fili -232 vs. Charles Jourdain
Bantamweight- Jordan Espinosa -162 vs. Mark De La Rosa
Preliminary Card ESPN/ESPN+
Lightweight- Kevin Aguilar -174 vs. Charles Rosa
Women's Bantamweight- Julia Avila -483 vs. Gina Mazany
Flyweight- Ryan Benoit -122 vs. Tyson Nam
Featherweight- Jordan Griffin -181 vs. Darrick Minner
Women's Flyweight- Mariya Agapova vs. Hannah Cifers
Welterweight- Anthony Ivy -191 vs. Christian Aguilera
Women's Flyweight- Ariane Lipski vs. Luana Carolina
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! Real-time spreads, totals, props, and money lines are all available so start betting with BookMaker today.
