Undefeated prospect Dominick Reyes (11-0, 6 KOs, 2 SUBs) will meet former middleweight champion Chris Weidman (14-4, 6 KOs, 4 SUBs) at UFC on ESPN 6 on Saturday, October 18, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, MA. The main card airs live on ESPN starting 9pm ET.
Dominick Reyes has been perfect so far in his MMA career, but he has yet to get the signature UFC win that would put him in title contention. “The Devastator” will get that opportunity this Saturday when he meets a former champion in Chris Weidman. The matchup headlines an ESPN proper card this Saturday in Boston.
A former NFL hopeful, the 29-year old Reyes has put together an impressive resume in just five UFC fights. His last three fights came against ranked fighters in Jared Cannonier, Ovince St. Preux and Volkan Oezdmir. However, the matchup with Oezdemir was a split pick that could have gone either way, and many felt that the Swede had done enough to earn the decision.
Chris Weidman has lost four of his last five, with knockouts coming at the hands of Rockhold, Romero, Mousasi and Souza. That’s a murderer’s row of opponents, which shows that the UFC still thinks highly of his abilities. However, his struggles have prompted a move to light heavyweight, and his debut against Reyes is not an easy one. But if he can pull off the win, Weidman will immediately have inserted himself into the top contender ranks at 205 pounds.
It’s a calculated risk for Weidman - there haven’t been many former middleweights that have found success at 205. Luke Rockhold was knocked out in his debut against Jan Blachowicz, and Reyes is an even bigger hitter. Let’s take a look the UFC odds at BookMaker.eu and break down your best betting options. Live UFC betting at the online sportsbook lets you make in-play wagers on real-time line updates.
UFC Odds at BookMaker.eu
Dominick Reyes -160
Chris Weidman +127
Fight goes/doesn’t go to decision: +250 / -350
Significant Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Reyes 5.05 / Weidman 3.15
Striking accuracy: Reyes 52% / Weidman 42%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Reyes 2.27 / Weidman 3.23
Striking defense: Reyes 58% / Weidman 51%
Grappling Stats
Takedowns per 15 minutes: Reyes 0.4 / Weidman 3.76
Takedown accuracy: Reyes 16% / Weidman 52%
Takedown defense: Reyes 85% / Weidman 73%
Submissions per 15 minutes: Reyes 0.4 / Weidman 1.02
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Like most fighters with a collegiate football background, Reyes’ early days mainly consisted of him overwhelming overmatched opponents with a special combination of speed, power and athleticism. Even lower level light heavyweights stood no chance, as Jeremy Kimball and Joachim Christensen were trucked over. But as he leveled up, matched against OSP and Oezdemir proved that Reyes simply couldn’t just run dudes over anymore. In those wins, Reyes showed the ability to go the distance in close fights, though he was hardly dominant against second-tier guys.
There are some huge questions surrounding Weidman’s move up in weight class. He wasn’t a giant middleweight by any means, and it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be able to execute his wrestling against bigger fighters. It’s not like he was Khabib’ing guys at 185 either - The All-American had to work hard for his takedowns. More worrisome is the fact that he’s been knocked out in his past four losses, and all of them were startlingly violent - to the point where he was spouting blood from facial cuts. That kind of damage irrevocably changes a fighter, and now he’s facing even bigger hitters.
UFC Odds Pick: Reyes to win at -160
Online oddsmakers opened with Reyes as a slight favorite, and quite frankly we were surprised that the price was so affordable. While Weidman asbolutely has the skillset to give Reyes some issues, we simply can’t trust his chin against a quick, powerful hitter like Reyes. We recommend going big on any line under -200 for Reyes.
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