Corey Anderson and Jan Blachowicz square off in a light heavyweight bout on the main card at UFC on ESPN+ 25 – also called UFC Fight Night 167 – at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, N.M. Saturday evening.
Anderson (14-4-0) will be facing Blachowicz for the second time in his career, and he is hopeful the result is the same as it was back at UFC 191 on Sept. 5, 2015 when Anderson came away with a unanimous decision victory in three rounds. He heads into this one with a head of steam, winning four in a row, including a brisk 2:07 KO/TKO against one of my favorite named UFC fighters, Johnny Walker, who was blue after his loss. Since his last loss to Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 217, the 30-year-old Anderson has rolled up wins over Patrick Cummins, Glover Teixeira, Ilir Latifi and Walker, putting him in position to get a championship shot if he isn’t derailed in this one.
Blachowicz (25-8-0) has waited nearly five years for another crack at Anderson, and he’ll get it in sandy New Mexico. The Berkut WCA Fight Team fighter is 36 years old, and it’s now or never if he wants a shot at the strap in his class. His UFC career got off to a hot start with a win over Latifi back on Oct. 4, 2014, but he proceeded to lose four of his next five bouts, including to Anderson. After a setback to Cummins at UFC 210, it’s been mostly smooth sailing, winning six of the past seven, including a split-decision win over Jacare Souza last time out in a five-round main event victory on Nov. 16. That bout proved he still has the goods to compete with anyone in this class.
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Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz betting odds
Per BetMGM, Anderson (-228) is a rather moderate favorite over Blachowicz (+165) in this rematch. Anderson holds a slight height and reach advantage over Blachowicz, both by one inch, but his real advantage is in striking and takedown ability. Anderson has 4.45 significant strikes landed per minute to just 3.44 SIG STR LPM for Blachowicz, while the latter does hold a slight advantage in Significant Strike Accuracy percentage at 49.05-46.37. However, Anderson is also much better at getting people to the ground, posting a 4.98 takedown average to just 1.18 for the Pole.
Roll with Anderson (-228) to win on the 2-way line, and perhaps pair it with another fight or two in a parlay for less risk. Some suggestions for a parlay might be Ray Borg (-154) over Rogerio Bontorin (+115), and if you’re a little more risky, pair Anderson with slight underdog Lando Vannata (-106) against Yancy Medeiros (-125), or put Anderson, Borg and Vannata in a nice three-fighter parlay for an even better payday. I plan on playing this ticket during my stay at the MGM Grand in Vegas this weekend.
New to sports betting? A $10 3-fighter parlay on Anderson (-228), Borg (-154) and Vannata (-106) would have a potential payout (inc stake) of $46.33 at +363.
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