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UFC Fight Night 138: Volkan vs. Smith
UFC Fight Night 138 Volkan vs. Smith takes place on Saturday, October 27, 2018 at the Moncton Events Centre in New Brunswick, Canada. The card airs live on FS1 following the Fight Pass prelims.
Anthony Smith was looking for a quick turnaround against a top contender after smashing Shogun Rua this past July. After failing to secure a matchup with No. 1 Alexander Gustafsson, he got the next best thing: No. 2 Volkan Oezdemir.
In one year, “Lionheart” could complete a meteoric rise to a title shot. Ironically, his opponent provides a cautionary tale. Oezdemir rocketed up the light heavyweight rankings with three straight wins in 2017, earning a go at champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 220. But the Swede kickboxer soon learned that “there are levels to this”, as DC prophetically stated. Oezdemir was badly outclassed and finished off in less than two rounds.
So what level is Oezdemir at? If he’s truly a top 3 guy, he should be able to halt the rise of “Lionheart”. Smith looks like a beast, but he hasn’t really faced anybody of note at 205. Volkan is easily the biggest challenge of his career.
Also on the card is Arjan Singh Bhullar, a former Olympic wrestler who represented Canada in the 2012 London Olympics. Everybody has to be on notice any time an Olympian wrestler transitions to MMA. What makes Bhullar even more intriguing is his background - there are no high profile Indian fighters in the UFC, and India is an untapped market with billions of people.
Take a look at the scheduled fights below, and log into the sportsbook to see the lines for every fight on the card. Make sure to check in during fight week for in-depth betting previews. UFC odds from BookMaker.eu are typically released during fight week.
UFC Fight Night 138 Lineup (Subject to Change)
Main Event, Light Heavyweight - Volkan Oezdemir vs. Anthony Smith
Preview: Former light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir (15-2, 11 KOs, 1 SUB) will meet rising Anthony “Lionheart” Smith (30-13, 17 KOs, 10 SUBs) at UFC Fight Night 138 on Saturday, October 27, 2018 at the Moncton Events Centre in New Brunswick, Canada. The main card airs live on FS1 starting 10 pm ET. Volkan Oezdemir learned the hard way - from champ champ Daniel Cormier - that there’s levels to this sport. Now he’s trying to teach the same lesson to Anthony Smith, a fast-rising contender that seems to be raising his hand to volunteer for any short notice injury spot these days. More
Featherweight - Michael Johnson vs. Artem Lobov
Light Heavyweight - Misha Cirkunov vs. Patrick Cummins
Preview: No. 10 light heavyweight Misha Cirkunov (13-4, 4 KOs, 7 SUBs) will meet No. 13 Patrick Cummins (10-5, 4 KOs, 2 SUBs) at UFC Fight Night 138 on Saturday, October 27, 2018 at the Moncton Events Centre in New Brunswick, Canada. The main card airs live on FS1 starting 10 pm ET. In 2016, Misha Cirkunov was 4-0 in the UFC and one of the light heavyweight division’s brightest prospects. This Saturday, he comes into his matchup with Patrick Cummins with two straight losses. Perhaps we shouldn’t judge Cirkunov’s recent slide too harshly, as his losses came against Volkan Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira. Still, they showed that the Latvian has a ways to go if he wants to be considered a contender at 205. More
Bantamweight - Andre Soukhamthath vs. Jonathan Martinez
Preview: Kickboxer Andre Soukhamthath (12-6, 8 KOs, 3 SUBs) will meet UFC newcomer Jonathan Martinez (9-1, 5 KOs, 2 SUBs) at UFC Fight Night 138 on Saturday, October 27, 2018 at the Moncton Events Centre in New Brunswick, Canada. The main card airs live on FS1 starting 10 pm ET. Jonathan Martinez is hoping to make the most of his short notice UFC debut. With Canadian Gavin Tucker pulling out of his scheduled fight, the Texas prospect will have just a few weeks to train for the biggest fight of his life. More
Light Heavyweight - Gian Villante vs. Ed Herman
Preview: Gian Villante is a solid favorite over Ed Herman at UFC Fight Night 138 on Saturday night in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. This event is one of six fights on the main card on FS1. Villante is 16-10 in his career, while Herman is 23-13 in his career. There are a total of six fights on the main card on FS1, with the headliner a bout between Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith. There are also a total of seven fights on the preliminary card with four on FS1and three on UFC Fight Pass. Let’s look at the bout between Villante and Herman and UFC picks. More
Welterweight - Alex Garcia vs. Court McGee
Preview: Alex Garcia is favored over Court McGee at UFC Fight Night 138 on Saturday night in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. This event is one of six fights on the main card on FS1. Garcia is 15-5 in his career, while McGee is 18-7 in his career. There are a total of six fights on the main card on FS1, with the headliner a bout between Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith. There are also a total of seven fights on the preliminary card with four on FS1and three on UFC Fight Pass. Let’s look at the bout between Garcia and McGee and UFC predictions. More
Welterweight - Nordine Taleb vs. Sean Strickland
Preview: Nordine Taleb is going up against Sean Strickland at UFC Fight Night 138 on Saturday night in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. This event is one of four on the FS1 portion of the preliminary card. Taleb is 14-5 in his career, while Strickland is 19-3 in his career. There are a total of six fights on the main card on FS1, with the headliner a bout between Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith. There are also a total of seven fights on the preliminary card with four on FS1and three on UFC Fight Pass. Let’s look at the bout between Taleb and Strickland and UFC picks. More
Lightweight - Thibault Gouti vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Preview: Nasrat Haqparast is a huge favorite over Thibault Gouti at UFC Fight Night 138 on Saturday night in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. This event is one of four on the FS1 portion of the preliminary card. Gouti is 12-4 in his career, while Haqparast is 9-2 in his career. There are a total of six fights on the main card on FS1, with the headliner a bout between Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith. There are also a total of seven fights on the preliminary card with four on FS1and three on UFC Fight Pass. Let’s look at the bout between Gouti and Haqparast and UFC predictions. More
Featherweight - Calvin Kattar vs. Chris Fishgold
Women's Bantamweight - Sarah Moras vs. Talita Bernardo
UFC Fight Night 138 Betting Lines, Predictions and Picks
If anything, the main event should be a banger. Oezdemir is savage kickboxer with obvious knockout power, while Smith’s last five wins have ended by KO. At 6’4”, Smith is one of the taller fighters in the division, and he’s really starting to figure out how to use his length. Oezdemir comes to crack, which sets up an intriguing scrap that should be a lot of fun to watch.
Bhullar is coming off his first career loss, getting subbed by the unheralded Adam Wieczorek this past April. That really put a damper on his hype, and a loss to Marcelo Golm might show that Bhullar doesn’t have contender potential. Golm is nothing special - a Brazilian knockout artist who doesn’t have the grappling to really put Bhullar in danger on the ground. It’ll be interesting to see how Bhullar deals with the early assault.
Speaking of disappointing prospects, Misha Cirkunov just suffered back-to-back losses after starting his UFC career 4-0. Of course, they came against Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira, but it was startling to see how quickly he was knocked out. Maybe he just doesn’t have the chin for this? His opponent, Patrick Cummins is a midcard talent at best, and how Cirkunov performs here should tell us a lot about where the Latvian stands.
Gian Villante will never be a contender, but his fights are a lot of fun to watch. While he might be slow and lumbering, Villante always seems to turn things into a sloppy slugfest. Ed Herman should be happy to oblige.
Stay Tuned for Fight Odds and Updates
Make sure to check the fight odds at BookMaker.eu for all your available betting options. For pay-per-view cards, odds usually release early for the bigger fights. In fact, you can bet on some fight odds right now. Odds for the entire card are generally available on Monday of fight week.
And during fight week, keep an eye out for our in-depth betting guides that we post during that time as well! You’ll find detailed analyses for fights, common sense betting picks and underdog specials to help you win some cash before the night’s over.
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