Zane Simon & Connor Ruebusch are back to break down this week’s UFC event at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. With picks and odds for every bout on the card. From Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac in the main event down to Tatsuro Taira vs. Jesus Aguilar in the opening prelim.
Another short break in the UFC schedule has ended, and as a reward for our patience the world’s largest MMA promotion is giving fans a card they are sure to forget. The heavyweight main event between Serghei Spivac and Derrick Lewis could be over in 2 minutes, or could be a 25 minute slog. After that, the main card is pretty much banking on excitement for Doo Ho Choi’s first fight in over three years.
As a side note, however, 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 fans interested in diving deeper into this week’s undercard, check out the Prelims Vivi below.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22906909/Host_Mock_Up_Vivi_FINAL_MOLLY.png)
June M. Williams
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 68 fight card, as it stood at the time of recording:
ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. FEB. 4/5 — 1AM/10PM ETPT
12. 265lbs: Derrick Lewis (26-10) vs. Serghei Spivac (15-3) — At 6:08, Odds 25:23, Picks – Both: Lewis
11. 205lbs: Da Un Jung (15-3) vs. Devin Clark (13-7) — At 26:04, Odds 34:12, Picks – Both: Jung
10. 265lbs: Marcin Tybura (23-7) vs. Blagoy Ivanov (19-4) — At 34:28, Odds 48:21, Picks – Both: Tybura
9. 145lbs: Doo Ho Choi (14-4) vs. Kyle Nelson (13-5) — At 48:30, Odds 57:52, Picks – Both: Choi
8. 170lbs: Yasaku Kinoshita (6-1) vs. Adam Fugitt (8-3) — At 59:02, Odds skipped?, Picks – Both: Kinoshita
ESPN+ ‘Road to UFC – Season 2’ TOURNAMENT FINALES
7. Lightweight Tournament Finale: Anshul Jubli (6-0) vs. Jeka Saragih (13-2) — At 7:38, Odds 17:47, Picks – Both: Saragih
6. Featherweight Tournament Finale: Zha Yi (21-3) vs. Jeong Yeong Lee (9-1) — At 18:35, Odds 26:26, Picks – Both: Lee
5. Bantamweight Tournament Finale: Rinya Nakamura (6-0) vs. Toshiomi Kazama (10-2) — At 26:47, Odds Skipped?, Picks – Both: Nakamura
4. Flyweight Tournament Finale: Hyun Sung Park (7-0) vs. Seung Guk Choi (6-1) — At 33:45, Odds 38:26, Picks – Both: Park
ESPN+ EARLY PRELIMS | 10PM/7PM ETPT
3. 125lbs: Ji Yeon Kim (9-6-2) vs. Mandy Böhm (7-2) — At 38:38, Odds 46:12, Picks – Both: Kim
2. 185lbs: Jun Yong Park (15-5) vs. Denis Tiuliulin (11-6) — At 46:27, Odds 58:58, Picks – Both: Park
1. 125lbs: Tatsuro Taira (12-0) vs. Jesus Aguilar (8-1) — At 59:14, Odds 1:08:24, Picks – Both: Taira
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 283 ‘Teixeira vs. Hill’:
Zane picked 9/15 for 60% and Connor picked 10/15 for 67% -
Overall stats from UFC Fight Island 1 in July, 2020, through UFC 283 in Jan, 2023:
Zane went 818/1269 for 64.5% and Connor went 773/1269 for 60.9% -
2023 Stats:
Zane is 18/27 for 67% and Connor is 19/27 for 70% -
2022 Stats:
Zane went 330/505 for 65% and Connor went 312/505 for 62% -
2021 Stats:
Zane went 305/493 for 65% and Connor went 285/493 for 59% -
July-Dec 2020 Stats:
Zane went 164/244 for 67% and Connor went 157/244 for 64%
Stats Reference Spreadsheet: Vivi Picks Stats _2.2.2023.pdf
If you enjoy our variety of shows, please give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: YouTube, SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, OverCast, PocketCasts, Castro, Castbox, Player FM, Podcast Republic. Follow your favorite ‘Bloody Elbow Presents’ hosts on your preferred apps, such as: Downcast, PodCruncher, iCatcher!, Castaway 2, BeyondPod (Android), & more in the App Store! For previous episodes, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels.
Check out the MMA Vivi Facebook Page, and be sure to “Like”, Follow, Share — At: https://www.facebook.com/TheMMAVivi