The UFC Fight Night 122 MMA betting lines underwent a bit of turmoil as Anderson Silva, who was slated to fight Kelvin Gastelum in the main event, failed an out of competition drug test resulting from a sample collected on October 26th and was, in consequence, withdrawn from the card. As a result, former middleweight champion Michael Bisping, who is no stranger to filling in for someone on short notice (that was in fact how he won that middleweight title), will literally be shanghaied into China to face Gastelum.
- UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Gastelum
- Promotion: Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Date: November 25, 2017
- Venue: Mercedes Benz Arena
- City: Shanghai, China
Online sportsbook Vegas odds for UFC:
Michael Bisping 2½ (-125) +265
Kelvin Gastelum 2½ (+105) -325
Bisping’s five-fight winning streak, which included winning and defending the middleweight championship, came to an end against the returning Georges St-Pierre, who submitted the Bisp with rear-naked choke at 4:23 of the third round of the main event of UFC 217. Perhaps as a way to leave that behind, Bisping accepted a match that will take place just 21 days after losing the belt, but then again he did beat Luke Rockhold for the strap on just 17 days’ notice.
Gastelum hasn’t been able to catch a break as of late. First, his TKO win over Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night 106 on March 11th in Fortaleza, Brazil was overturned after he tested positive for marijuana, which was, as the late, great Gorilla Monsoon would say, a miscarriage of justice. Then he was made to tap out by Chris Weidman at 3:435 of the third round at UFC on Fox 2 on July 22nd in Uniondale, New York.
Li Jingliang (@UfcJingliang) vs. Zak Ottow (@TheBarbarianMMA) in the works for UFC Fight Night: Shanghai (per @raphamarinho) #UFC pic.twitter.com/ckJudRu52s
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) October 6, 2017
MMA betting lines:
Zak Ottow 2½ (-170) +150
Li Jingliang 2½ (+150) -170
Ottow has won six of his last seven fights, of which the last five have gone to three rounds, including a split decision over Kiichi Kunimoto at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Hunt on June 10th in Auckland, New Zealand.
Jingliang has won his last three straight fights, but each one has progressively taken longer than the previous; he KO’d Anton Zafir at 2:46 of the first round on July 8, 2016, KO’d Bobby Nash at 4:45 of the second on January 28, 2017, and won an unanimous decision over Frank Camacho after three full rounds on June 17, 2017.
THIS JUST IN: Muslim Salikhov (@MuslimSalikhov) finally signs with UFC; will face Alex Garcia (@AlexGarciaMMA) at #UFCShanghai pic.twitter.com/9HIzgHG30b
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) October 19, 2017
MMA betting lines:
Alex Garcia 1½ (EV) +160
Muslim Salikhov 1½ (-120) -185
Garcia has split his last four fights, including KO’ing Mike Pyle in the first round at UFC 207 on December 30, 2016 in Las Vegas and losing a UD to Tim Means after three rounds at UFC Fight Night: Chiesa vs. Lee on June 25, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Salikhov is all set to make his UFC debut after signing with the promotion on October 19th. The Kumyk Dagestani-born Russian heavyweight Sanshou kickboxer is 12-1 and has won his last 10 straight, mostly in China, so in a way he has home field advantage.