Zane Simon & Connor Ruebusch are back to break down this week’s UFC event in Las Vegas, NV. With picks & odds for every bout on the card. From Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic in the main event down to Nick Maximov vs. Andre Petroski in the prelim opener.
The UFC has put together a reasonably solid Fight Night offering this week, with former champion Jan Blachowicz making his first return to the cage since losing the title to Glover Teixeira last October. He’s set to face off against top contender Aleksandar Rakic, with Rakic looking to earn his own first chance at UFC gold. A solid action booking between Ion Cutelaba and Ryan Spann in the co-main and Amanda Ribas’ jump to the flyweight division should all make for a decent scrappy card.
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June M. Williams
For fans looking to dive deeper into the undercard, check out the Prelims Vivi below.
The MMA Vivisection is brought to you by The Fine Art of Violence, a collection of art and essays recapping the year in MMA by Chris Rini, featuring the most talented artists and writers in Mixed Martial Arts. The book is available in both hard copy and digital formats at chrisrini.com.
Here’s a look at the UFC VEGAS 54 fight card, as it stood at the time of recording:
ESPN2 MAIN CARD | 10pm/7pm ET&PT
Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic — At 5:21, Odds 17:11, Picks, Both: Blachowicz
Ryan Spann vs. Ion Cutelaba — At 18:45, Odds 28:56, Picks, Both: Cutelaba
Davey Grant vs. Louis Smolka — At 30:38, Odds 39:35, Pick, Both: Grant
Katlyn Chookagian vs. Amanda Ribas — At 39:51, Odds 45:49, Picks, Zane: Chookagian, Connor: Ribas
Frank Camacho vs. Manuel Torres — At 46:54, Odds 56:28, Picks, Zane: Torres, Connor: Camacho
Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento — At 56:44, Odds 1:00:47, Picks, Both: Hadley
ESPN2 PRELIMS | 7:30pm/4:30pm ET&PT
Viviane Araujo vs. Andrea Lee — At 1:00, Odds 16:26, Picks, Both: Lee
Michael Johnson vs. Alan Patrick — At 17:56, Odds 31:08, Picks, Zane: Patrick, Connor: Johnson
Virna Jandiroba vs. Angela Hill — At 31:23, Odds 40:35, Picks, Both: Jandiroba
Tatsuro Taira vs. Carlos Candelario — At 43:33, Odds 47:59, Picks, Both: Taira
Nick Maximov vs. Andre Petroski — At 48:16, Odds 55:10, Picks, Both: Maximov
For those of you following the picks made on the show, we started tracking them with the July 13th, 2020 Vivisections for ‘Kattar vs. Ige’… Standings for our last event, UFC 274: Oliveira vs Gaethje — Zane went 10/14, while Connor went 11/14. So far, here are the overall standings: Zane is now 584/907 and Connor is now 556/907. Reference: Vivi Picks Stats-Cumulative.pdf
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