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The big boys take to the main card this Saturday night when a pair of ranked heavyweights face off as Fabricio Werdum takes on Alexander Gustafsson live from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi as part of UFC Fight Night on ESPN+.
Werdum is 42 years old and first stepped in a UFC octagon in 2007. He’s 23-9 in his career, 9-6 in the UFC, and is the former heavyweight champion of the promotion. He defended the belt once before falling to Stipe Miocic in 2015, who has held the title ever since. The Brazilian is as comfortable on his feet as the mat, landing 3.61 strikes per minute as well as 1.71 takedowns per 15-minute fight.
Despite his #14 ranking, he hasn’t won a fight in nearly three years, falling to Alexander Volkov in March of 2018, and Alexey Oleynik 10 weeks ago ago in Jacksonville upon the return of the UFC. He’s also a drug cheat that wouldn’t make it to the end of a mafia movie, turning state’s evidence to get his own suspension reduced by the US Anti-Doping Agency that had originally suspended him for two years in April of 2018 for testing positive for trenbolone and its metabolite epitrenbolone.
Gustafsson is 18-6 at age 33, with a UFC record of 10-6. He has fought three times to become the light heavyweight champion of the world, but lost all three; twice to Jon Jones, and once to Daniel Cormier. The native of Stockholm, Sweden is active both in the standup and ground games, with 4.02 strikes per minute landed, and 1.56 takedowns per 15 minutes with an 85% takedown defense. In his last outing against Anthony Smith in June of 2019, he was ahead on points before being submitted in the fourth round.
Here are the betting odds at DraftKings Sportsbook for Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC Fight Night from Abu Dhabi on July 25th:
Money line odds
Fabricio Werdum: +275
Alexander Gustafsson: -360
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