UFC Wichita (UFC Fight Night 146) takes place Saturday, March 9 in Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
The card formerly was shown to be headlined by heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Junior dos Santos, and over the weekend a couple new preliminary spells were added to the card, via ESPN. The new spells are recorded below, together with my initial reactions to them, in the modern edition of MMA odds and ends.
Tim Means vs. Niko Price, UFC Fight Night 146
An intriguing welterweight matchup between Tim Means and Niko Price is set for UFC Fight Night 146. Means (28-10, 1 NC) is 10-7, 1 NC in the UFC and is coming off of a TKO win over Ricky Rainey that snapped a two-fight split decision losing skid. At 34 he is started to age but showed from the Rainey battle his striking skills are still top notch. Cost (12-2, 1 NC) is 4-2, 1 NC in the UFC and is coming from a fast TKO loss to Abdul Razak Alhassan which was a disappointing follow-up to his brutal KO win over Randy Brown in the summertime. What a great fight that is involving Means and Price because it’s a struggle between two men who will finish the fight on the toes and on the ground. I can see this one going either way, and this might be a surprise to people who have been following me for many years, but I had really slightly lean towards Price here just because of his age advantage and the reality Means has been in so many wars. The opening line should be close, but I would probably peg Price as a slight favorite at open.
Alex Morono vs. Zak Ottow, UFC Fight Night 146
Welterweights Alex Morono and Zak Ottow may also meet on this card. Morono (15-5, 1 NC) is 4-2, 1 NC in the UFC and conquered Kenan Song in a”Battle of the Night” performance his last time out. Ottow (17-6) is 4-3 in the UFC and is coming off of a split decision win over Dwight Grant. This is a very evenly-matched connection between two men in the middle of the bunch at 170lbs who’ve been inconsistent in their UFC careers. I have been slightly more impressed with Morono inside the Octagon so I would prefer him just a tad here, but on paper it is a close matchup and I anticipate the opening line to be close a Select’em.
Louis Smolka vs. Matt Schnell, UFC Fight Night 146
And finally, Louis Smolka and Matt Schnell will proceed up to bantamweight and compete on this card. Smolka (15-5) recently made his return to the UFC using a submission win over Mudaerji. All-time Smolka has a 6-5 record in the UFC and is now riding a four-fight win streak overall in MMA. Schnell (11-4) is 2-2 in the UFC and defeated Naoki Inoue and Marco Beltran in his past two outings. Though Schnell has looked better lately, Smolka is the talented fighter and is more proven fighting 135lbs. I would have to favor Smolka to win this particular fight, and the fact it’s not taking place at flyweight is just another indication the division is going to be closed down this season.
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