UFC Wichita (UFC Fight Night 146) Occurs Saturday, March 9 at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
The card previously was shown to be headlined by heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Junior dos Santos, and over the weekend a few new preliminary bouts were added to the card, via ESPN. The new spells are recorded below, along with my initial reactions to these, in today’s edition of MMA odds and ends.
Tim Means vs. Niko Price, UFC Fight Night 146
An intriguing welterweight matchup between Tim Means and Niko Price is set for UFC Fight Night 146. Means (28-10, 1 NC) is 10-7, 1 NC from the UFC and is coming from a TKO win over Ricky Rainey that snapped a two-fight split decision losing skid. At 34 he is started to age but showed from the Rainey battle his striking skills are still topnotch. Cost (12-2, 1 NC) is 4-2, 1 NC at the UFC and is coming off of a fast TKO loss to Abdul Razak Alhassan that has been a disappointing followup to his barbarous KO win over Randy Brown on the summer. What a great battle that is involving Means and Price because it is a struggle between two guys who will finish the fight on the feet and on the ground. I can see this one going either way, which may be a surprise to those who have been after me for years, but I had really slightly lean towards Price here simply because of his age advantage and the fact Means was in so many wars. The opening line must be shut, but I would probably peg Price as a small favorite in the open.
Alex Morono vs. Zak Ottow, UFC Fight Night 146
Welterweights Alex Morono and Zak Ottow may even meet on this card. Morono (15-5, 1 NC) is 4-2, 1 NC in the UFC and conquered Kenan Song in a“Fight of the Night“ performance his out time. Ottow (17-6) is 4-3 at the UFC and is coming off of a split decision win over Dwight Grant. This is a really evenly-matched connection between two guys in the middle of the bunch at 170lbs who’ve so far been inconsistent in their UFC careers. I have been somewhat more impressed by Morono inside the Octagon so I would favor him just a bit here, but on paper it is a close matchup and I anticipate the opening line to be close a Pick’em.
Louis Smolka vs. Matt Schnell, UFC Fight Night 146
And lastly, Louis Smolka and Matt Schnell will move up to bantamweight and compete with this card. Smolka (15-5) lately made his return to the UFC using a submission win over Mudaerji. All-time Smolka has a 6-5 record in the UFC and is now riding a four-fight win streak complete in MMA. Schnell (11-4) is 2-2 in the UFC and conquered Naoki Inoue and Marco Beltran in his past two outings. Although Schnell has appeared better recently, Smolka is the more talented fighter and is more proven fighting at 135lbs. I’d have to favor Smolka to win this particular fight, and the fact it is not taking place at flyweight is another indication the branch is going to be shut down this year.
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