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UFC on ESPN 6 Odds: Reyes vs. Weidman and Full Main Card

Cole Shelton

by Cole Shelton in Mixed Martial Arts News

Updated Jul 7, 2020 · 3:07 PM PDT

Dominick Reyes, Chris Weidman
Dominick Reyes and Chris Weidman headline UFC on ESPN 6. Photo By @UFC (Twitter)
  • Chris Weidman makes his light heavyweight debut
  • Does the winner get a title shot?
  • Yair Rodriguez vs. Jeremy Stephens run it back

The Octagon is back in Boston, Massachusetts at the TD Garden, on Friday, October 18 for UFC on ESPN 6. In the main event, former middleweight champion, Chris Weidman moves up to light heavyweight to take on Dominick Reyes, where the winner could very well be next in line for the title. The co-main event sees Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens run it back after their main event fight at UFC Mexico City a couple of weeks ago ended in 15 seconds due to an eye poke.

Dominick Reyes vs. Chris Weidman Odds

Fighter Book 1 Odds Book 2 Odds
Dominick Reyes -160 -155
Chris Weidman +130 +135

*All odds taken Oct. 15, 2019

Can Reyes Stay Undefeated?

Dominick Reyes (11-0) is coming off of a split-decision win over Volkan Oezdemir in March that some thought Oezdemir won the fight. Before that, he edged out a decision win over Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 229, TKO’d Jared Cannonier, submitted Jeremy Kimball and in his UFC debut, TKO’d Joachim Christensen. Out of his 11 wins, he has only gone to the scorecards three times.

Chris Weidman (14-4) is coming off of a knockout loss to Ronaldo Souza at UFC 230 in what appears to be his last middleweight fight. In the fight before, he submitted Kelvin Gastelum to snap his three-fight losing skid where he lost by TKO to Gegard Mousasi, knocked out by Yoel Romero and TKO’d to Luke Rockhold to lose the middleweight title.

He also beat Anderson Silva twice to win and then defend the middleweight title and defended twice more against Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort.

Tale of the Tape

Reyes
VS
Weidman
29 Age 35
6’4″ Height 6’2″
77″ Reach 78″
3 UFC finishes 7
0 UFC main events 5

As the odds suggest, this is a very close fight. Dominick Reyes is the younger fighter and has more miles on him. But, something going against him is the level of competition as when he took a step up in competition he faced Volkan Oezdemir and barely won that fight, where many think he lost. Chris Weidman, meanwhile, has fought future UFC Hall of Famers and all-time greats like Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and Demian Maia among others.

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In this fight, Reyes should have a striking advantage, but where Weidman is dangerous is his wrestling. He has elite-level wrestling and I believe it will play a big factor in this fight. For Reyes, he needs to keep this fight on the feet and look to knockout Weidman who has been knocked out before, and a ton recently.

Yet, in this fight, I like Chris Weidman to get it done by using his wrestling and his cardio and experience in five rounds to win by decision or possibly a late finish.

Pick: Chris Weidman (+135)

Yair Rodriguez vs. Jeremy Stephens Odds

Fighter Book 1 Odds Book 2 Odds
Yair Rodriguez -115 -115
Jeremy Stephens -115 -105

Running it Back

Yair Rodriguez (11-2 and one no-contest) is coming off the 15-second no-contest against Jeremy Stephens on September 21. Before that, he had the last-second knockout win over Chan Sung Jung to get back into the win column after a beatdown at the hands of Frankie Edgar. The Mexican also holds wins over B.J. Penn, Dan Hooker, Andre Fili, and Alex Caceres.

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Jeremy Stephens (28-16 and one no-contest), last fight, like Rodriguez was the no-contest. Before that, he lost to Zabit Magomedsharipov and Jose Aldo. Stephens has been a staple in the featherweight division for quite some time with notable wins over Josh Emmett, Gilbert Melendez, Doo Ho Choi, Renan Barao, and Darren Elkins.

Tale of the Tape

Rodriguez
VS
Stephens
26 Age 33
5’10.5″ Height 5’8.5″
71″ Reach 71″
3 UFC finishes 3
-115 Odds for last fight -115

Oddsmakers have had a hard time picking this fight just like fans as it is a super close fight. Yet, in the first fight, I favored Yair Rodriguez given it was three rounds. But, this is a three-round fight that should favor Jeremy Stephens and his power.

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Stephens could very well have the most power at featherweight, while Rodriguez is more flashy and picks it up in the later rounds. But, I can’t stop thinking about Rodriguez getting picked apart against Edgar and Jung, where if Stephens can do that, he will knock him out. So, I like Jeremy Stephens in this fight to get the job done and most likely by KO/TKO.

Pick: Jeremy Stephens (-105)

UFC on ESPN 6 Main Card Odds

Here are the odds for the remaining fights on the card.

Greg Hardy vs. Ben Sosoli Odds

Fighter Book 1 Odds Book 2 Odds
Greg Hardy -280 -285
Ben Sosoli +220 +240

Joe Lauzon vs. Jonathan Pearce Odds

Fighter Book 1 Odds Book 2 Odds
Joe Lauzon +110 +125
Jonathan Pearce -140 -145

Maycee Barber vs. Gillian Robertson Odds

Fighter Book 1 Odds Book 2 Odds
Maycee Barber -135 -135
Gillian Robertson +105 +115

Deron Winn vs. Darren Stewart Odds

Fighter Book 1 Odds Book 2 Odds
Deron Winn -115 -113
Darren Stewart -115 -107
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