UFC Fight Night 175: Smith vs. Rakic Betting Preview

There has been a lot of moving and shaking ahead of UFC Fight Night 175. Yair Rodriguez and Zabit Magomedsharipov were originally supposed to headline this Saturday’s event, but both fighters pulled out earlier this month. The new main event between Anthony Smith and Aleksandar Rakic was only agreed to back on August 15, and that is far from the only recent addition. Neil Magny was originally supposed to face Geoff Neal in the primary undercard, but Neal was forced to pull out due to a severe case of sepsis. Bill Algeo is replacing Ryan Hall as the opponent for Ricardo Lamas, and this is the fourth date set for the rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Ion Cutelaba.

UFC Fight Night 175 will be broadcast in its entirety on ESPN Plus. It will be held at the UFC APEX center in Las Vegas, Nevada with the preliminary card starting at 5 p.m. ET, and the main card kicking off at 8 p.m. ET.

UFC Fight Night 175: Smith vs. Rakic Betting Odds

Aleksandar Rakic -270

Anthony Smith +230

Rakic is currently ranked No. 8 in the light heavyweight rankings ahead of this fight, while Smith is ranked No. 5. However, Rakic is a sizable favorite by the UFC betting odds given his potential.

Although he lost his first fight, Rakic won his next 12 bouts to skyrocket to prominence. He won his first four bouts in the UFC, and his two most recent wins were first-round knockouts of Devin Clark and Jimi Manuwa. Rakic won Performance of the Night with his knockout of Manuwa, but he suffered a setback when he lost a split decision to Volkan Oezdemir back in December 2019.

Smith submitted Oezdemir almost two years ago, but he has lost two of his last three bouts. A unanimous decision loss to Jon Jones is nothing to be ashamed of, but a fifth-round TKO at the hands of Glover Teixeira was rather surprising. Still, the Lionheart is worth a wager at this price considering some of his victories over the past two years.

Neil Magny -245

Robbie Lawler +210

Since coming to UFC, Magny is 16-6. He has won five of his last seven bouts ahead of this fight, but he has yet to have a big breakthrough. Magny was submitted in the first round by Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 215 back in September 2017, and he was knocked out by Santiago Ponzinibbio at his headliner fight almost two years ago. We saw him not fight throughout 2019 after failing a drug test, but he won unanimous decision victories over Li Jingliang and Anthony Rocco Martin earlier this year.

Former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler has had a rough stretch. He successfully defended his title twice before suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Tyron Woodley at UFC 201, losing the belt and seemingly his confidence in the process. After a win over Cowboy Cerrone, he las lost three straight fights, falling to No. 13 in the welterweight rankings. While it might be tempting to bet him at +210, he is 38 years old, and his best days are behind him.

Alexa Grasso -300

Ji Yeon Kim +250

Grasso has alternated wins and losses over her last six fights. All but one of those bouts went the distance, so it’s probably a safe bet to wager on this fight to end by decision. Four of Ji Yeon Kim’s last five fights have gone the distance, but it’s hard to back the underdog given she has missed weight in her last two fights.

Ricardo Lamas -260

Bill Algeo +220

It’s pretty eye-opening to see Lamas as a substantial favorite by the UFC betting odds despite losing three of his last four fights. However, two of those three losses were against fighters ranked in the top seven of the featherweight division, and Algeo was only added to the card as a fill-in opponent this week. This will be Algeo’s UFC debut, and he is 13-4 over his career in lower promotions.

Magomed Ankalaev -320

Ion Cutelaba +270

Ankalaev secured a fast TKO win over Cutelaba when they squared off in February, but that was not a fair decision. Referee Kevin MacDonald stopped the fight far too early according to everyone who watched the bout, leading to an enraged Cutelaba requesting a rematch. However, while Cutelaba was the favorite in the initial fight, Ankalaev is the favorite here as he looked in control before the stoppage.

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