UFC 234 is set to occur less than two weeks from now at Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne, Australia. With the card quickly coming up, there have sadly been some accidents and a couple of fights are affected. Here’s an update on the newest fights for UFC 234 in today’s MMA odds and ends.
Sam Alvey vs. Jimmy Crute, UFC 234
Due to an injury to Ryan Spann, Sam Alvey has stepped up on short notice and will take on rising prospect Jimmy Crute in a light heavyweight battle. News of the new matchup was initially shown by news.com.au.
Alvey (33-11, 1 NC) is 10-6 overall at the UFC while splitting his time between middleweight and light heavyweight. Since moving up to 205lbs, Alvey has gone 2-1 with wins over Gian Villante and Marcin Prachnio along with a sudden TKO loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in his final fight. Alvey has settled to the role of gatekeeper, and despite the loss to Nogueira he stays a stern test for any up-and-coming in the light heavyweight division, making Crute the ideal opponent. Be aware that Alvey was originally set to fight Gadzhimurad Antigulov at UFC Fight Night 145 before being pulled with this matchup.
Crute (9-0) looked fantastic in his UFC debut as he submitted Paul Craig. He’s only 22-years older and has lots of assurance as an undefeated potential. He’s the native and has all of the pressure on himbut he has not shown any symptoms of not being able to live up to the hype. From all accounts, Crute seems like he has a few of the qualities of a future light heavyweight title contender.
As for the odds, Crute was a +110 underdog against Ryan Spann, but I would have bet him at those odds as I watched value there. Against Alvey, I really don’t find any reason why Crute wouldn’t be a huge favorite. I’d peg him around -300 in this fight, and I see him beating Alvey and continuing his march towards the top-15 ranks.
Callan Potter vs. Jalin Turner, UFC 234
Because of an injury to Alex Gorgees, Callan Potter will make his UFC debut on short notice when he chooses on Jalin Turner in UFC 234. Nolan King broke the news.
Potter (16-7) is a local Aussie fighter and has been riding an eight-fight win series prior to being submitted by Marcin Held in ACB in his last fight. He actually has quite a bit of experience, having struggled Jake Matthews before in his career. However, he’s got no notable wins. Note that all of Potter’s fights have finished inside the space — win or lose.
Turner (7-4) was pumped out by Vicente Luque in his UFC debut. That was definitely going to be a difficult matchup for Turner, and I am still not certain why the UFC put him up as a sacrificial lamb there. All seven of Turner’s career wins have come by stoppage, though he has been knocked out three times himself which is of course concerning.
Turner is the larger name and had a complete camp so I do expect him to be favored, but I believe Potter has a fairly good chance . However, this might be a fight where the props might be the best bet, and the prop I’ll be looking for is the struggle ending within the distance, as I fully expect someone to get knocked out.
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