Zane Simon & Connor Ruebusch are back to break down this week’s UFC event at the Theatre at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, NV. With picks and odds for every fight on the card. From Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili in the main event down to Carlston Harris vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov in the opening prelim.
It’s always nice to see the UFC follow strength with strength. The world’s largest MMA promotion is coming off a huge PPV last week, with UFC 285, and now they’re right back at it with a top class ‘Fight Night’ event. In the headliner, former champion Petr Yan takes on top contender Merab Dvalishvili. They’re accompanied by a top ranked heavyweight bout between Alexander Volkov and Alexander Romanov, alongside what was meant to be the headliner from two weeks ago—a light heavyweight tilt between Nikita Krylov and Ryan Spann. Should be a blast.
For fans looking to support our podcasting work as Bloody Elbow leaves VOX network of sites, we now officially have a Vivisection/6th Round Patreon. Both shows will continue to be posted, for free on BE, SoundCloud, YouTube and other podcasting apps going forward. However, the Patreon will give fans exclusive access to the MMA Depressed-us from here on out.
For those looking to dive deeper into a card that feels as though it’s all just 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 71 fight card, as it stood at the time of recording:
ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. MAR. 11 — 6/3PM ETPT
Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili — Picks, Both: Yan | At 7:16, Odds 31:05
Alexander Volkov vs. Alexandr Romanov — Picks, Zane: Volkov, Connor: Romanov | At 31:47, Odds 45:52
Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann — Picks, Both: Krylov | At 47:00, Odds 52:23
Ricardo Ramos vs. Austin Lingo — Picks, Both: Ramos | At 53:03, Odds 1:01:20
Said Nurmagomedov vs. Jonathan Martinez — Picks, Zane: Nurmagomedov, Connor: Martinez | At 1:01:36, Odds 1:14:27
Vitor Petrino vs. Anton Turkalj — Picks, Both: Petrino | At 1:15:22, Odds 1:23:33
ESPN+ PRELIMS | 3/12PM ETPT
?ukasz Brzeski vs. Karl Williams — Picks, Both: Brzeski | At 2:39, Odds 10:06
Raphael Assunção vs. Davey Grant — Picks, Both: Assunção | At 12:28, Odds 22:37
Sedriques Dumas vs. Josh Fremd — Picks, Both: Dumas | At 24:08, Odds 32:22
Mario Bautista vs. Guido Cannetti — Picks, Both: Bautista | At 33:06, Odds 39:31
JJ Aldrich vs. Ariane Lipski — Picks, Both: Aldrich | At 41:35, Odds 49:14
Tony Gravely vs. Victor Henry — Picks, Both: Henry | At 50:19, Odds 56:25
Tyson Nam vs. Bruno Gustavo Silva — Picks, Zane: Silva, Connor: Nam | At 58:02, Odds 1:09:17
Carlston Harris vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov — Picks, Both: Harris | At 1:10:06, Odds 1:16:01
For those of you following the picks made on the show, we started tracking them with the July 13th, 2020 Vivisection shows for UFC Fight Island 1: ‘Kattar vs. Ige’. So far, here are the overall standings:
For our last event, UFC Vegas 71: ‘Jones vs. Gane’:
Zane picked 9/14 for 64% and Connor picked 7/14 for 50%
Overall stats from UFC Fight Island 1 in July, 2020, through UFC 285 in Mar., 2023:
Zane went 854/1329 for 64% and Connor went 815/1329 for 61%
2023 Stats:
Zane is 54/87 for 62% and Connor is 51/87 for 59%
2022 Stats:
Zane went 331/505 for 66% and Connor went 312/505 for 62%
2021 Stats:
Zane went 305/493 for 62% and Connor went 295/493 for 60%
July-Dec 2020 Stats:
Zane went 164/244 for 67% and Connor went 157/244 for 64%
Stats Reference Spreadsheets: Vivi Picks Stats_3.9.23.pdf
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