** All Odds Provided By Stake.com Accurate as of 6/1/22 2:30 pm EST **

Alexander Volkov -149 Jairzinho Rozenstruik +131

Volkov looked as sharp as ever in the main event getting a nasty first-round finish to end the night. This was a great showing from Volkov as he answered many questions about how he would respond to his last performance. He showed no issue coming back, putting the pressure on from the start and forcing Rozenstruik to crumble; this puts Volkov back in with the top strikers at Heavyweight and even as someone who has backed him a lot in past years, I am not sure there are many ranked ahead of him that I would favor him against. Jairzinho had a tough night here as he was put on the back foot immediately, and just as he managed to counter one of the front-kicks that Volkov was throwing, he was caught with a beautiful right hand, and that was the beginning of the end for him, if I am ever going to back Rozenstruik, he would have to show massive development or take a significant drop in competition level.

Dan Ige +320 Movsar Evloev -385

This fight was an excellent showcase for the well-rounded skillset of Movsar Evloev. Many, including myself, expected Evloev to grapple earlier in the fight; however, he showed some experience here as he faded in the Dawodu fight from wrestling so much early; this time out, he used his wrestling more efficiently, resulting in his cardio holding up much better. Ige is still what we knew him to be, a crazy tough and scrappy competitor, but in this fight, he was outmatched.

Mike Trizano -222 Lucas Almeida +190

This was a war as we saw back and forth knockdowns like it was a video game, with Almeida eventually landing the fight-ending blow. Almeida looked sharp aside from getting caught late in the first as he was winning that round to that point and took over the fight as it progressed with his shots doing the more damage. Trizano didn't look bad; his power was just not enough to get into a firefight like that with Almeida.

Poliana Botelho +102 Karine Silva -115

A buzzer-beater finish in this one as Silva proves she can get it done at the UFC level with a first-round finish. It is impressive to get someone to tap with only five seconds left in a round, and that is precisely what Karine Silva did as she secured a D'Arce choke showing her finishing ability translates to the UFC. This was the second late first-round submission loss for Botelho, curiously enough, and as she drops her fourth in her last five, it is tough to know what is next.

Ode Osbourne -179 Zarrukh Adashev +155

This was fun while it lasted as we saw a dangerous counter game played very well by Osbourne as he used his reach to avoid dangerous shots from Adashev. In the end, it was a great shot by Osbourne that ended the fight and cashed the last leg of my parlay, but I must say I was nervous watching how close many of those shots came to hitting him, and I would have a hard time backing him against a more patient striker. Adashev forced the action from the start here and paid the price.

Alonzo Menifield -152 Askar Mozharov +135

After some record controversy, Menifield ended up closing across the -200 line and showed he was the better martial artist by quickly taking down Mozharov and cashing any first-round bets. Menifield looked good here and showed he is willing to take the path of least resistance which is great to see as a bettor, and I am excited to see who he gets matched up with next. Mozharov did not look UFC caliber, and if he fights for the promotion again, I will not bet on him.

Felice Herrig -116 Karolina Kowalkiewicz +103

This is precisely what I hoped to see from Kowalkiewicz after changing camps and taking some time off, as she looked like a refreshed fighter. I believe this performance was a perfect storm of a fighter with some new confidence and an opponent who was half out the door as Herrig never got going and retired following the bout. This was a good win; however, there are a lot of tough fights at Strawweight, so it will be interesting to see who Kowalkiewicz gets next.

Joe Solecki -167 Alex da Silva +146

Tough fight to score here with Solecki getting the win; however, despite the results, I feel this line was wrong as Alex da Silva looked very good at times in this fight. Solecki showed his skills on the ground in this one causing many issues there for da Silva; despite not getting a finish there with his control time, his striking, however, was a step behind, which cost him here as he was unable to accomplish much in the stand-up which nearly cost him the fight. Alex da Sliva gave this fight away as he made several mistakes in following Solecki to the ground after his early knockdown and having a point taken for repeatedly cheating; a lot of potential was shown in this performance, but a disappointing result, and in a fashion that gives me hesitations about betting on him in future fights.

Damon Jackson -500* Daniel Argueta +350*

Nearly had a wild upset in this one as the short notice Dan Argueta showed up in shape and gave the heavy-favorite Jackson everything he could handle. We know how skilled Damon Jackson is, and he displayed his grappling abilities again in this fight, but his lack of stand-up and cardio in the third round made me nervous as someone who needed him to win for my parlay. Argueta certainly made a name for himself here despite not getting the win as he proved he could go three rounds any day, even in a tough matchup up a weight class; excited to see Argueta get a matchup in his actual weight class.

Benoit Saint-Denis -156 Niklas Stolze +138

This was an impressive showing from Saint-Denis as he got an opportunity to display his skills at Lightweight in a good matchup with Stolze struggling on the ground. Saint-Denis dominated this fight in a way I did not expect, as he was easily able to take down and control Stolze resulting in a second-round finish; now we have seen Saint-Denis execute his gameplan, but I still have a hard time backing him against opponents with more wrestling experience. Stolze drops his third in three Octagon appearances proving he may not belong at this level.

Tony Gravely -128 Johnny Munoz Jr +114

It was a much different fight than I expected here, as we did not make it far enough to see any grappling exchanges between the two before Gravely was able to close the show with a short right hand. Good win for Gravely, as he showed his power and finishing ability early here. Tough night for Munoz Jr, but this happens; he will have other opportunities to prove his abilities.

Jeff Molina -172 Zhalgas Zhumagulov +150

Another week another split decision, and for the first time in a while, I was on the right side of it despite disagreeing with it. Molina showed a striking advantage but was out grappled and struggled when the fight got ugly; this is likely a result of his lack of experience, and a fight like this will only serve to benefit him in the long term. Zhumagulov gets a tough loss here, but it is still something to build on as he proved he did not deserve to be that considerable an underdog and can still be a problem at Flyweight.

Andreas Michailidas +235 Rinet Fakhredinov -270

This was a grueling grappling match that saw Fakhredinov able to control and damage Michalilidas for the majority of the three rounds. Fakhredinov proved himself in this fight as although he did not get the finish being able to grapple at that rate for a full three rounds is impressive, and he is a name to watch at Welterweight. Michailidas did not have the same level of cardio to be able to compete late in the fight or the skill to compete early in this fight which resulted in a tough night, dropping his UFC record to 1-3 across three weight classes; I will find it hard to back Michailidas until he finds some direction in his career path.

Erin Blanchfield -500 JJ Aldrich +400

Nearly saw a massive upset as the live odds were even entering round two, but Blanchfield would secure the finish with an impressive standing guillotine to put a definitive end to the contest. Blanchfield had a rough start and was able to recover, which is good to see, but still, she is very young and could likely use some more time developing her skills before she begins to move up in the rankings too quickly based on this performance. Aldrich came to fight and showed out well early, but close doesn't cut it in MMA, and she is close but still not on the level of the more skilled women in the Flyweight division.

DougLasVegasBets.net Official Plays

Straight Bets: Volkov -149

Props: Evloev By Decision -164 (Best Bet)

Parlays: Molina/Blanchfield -112 Osbourne/Jackson -115