After a successful return to the octagon last weekend, UFC action continues on Wednesday as Anthony Smith takes on veteran light heavyweight Glover Teixeira in the main event at UFC Fight Night 175 as a -185 favourite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Smith has been idle since claiming a submission victory over Alexander Gustafsson almost a year ago at UFC Fight Night 153 that earned him his fourth career Performance of the Night bonus and lifted his professional MMA record to 33-14 going into Wednesday night’s bout at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Despite the long layoff, Smith has managed to hold steady as the No. 4 contender in the UFC light heavyweight division. The 31-year-old American has finished opponents in each of his past seven victories, but has also faced adversity with a pair of losses in his past six outings, including a unanimous decision loss to Jon Jones in his bid for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 235 as a +450 wager at sports betting sites. Smith also suffered a second-round TKO loss to Thiago Santos at UFC Fight Night 125 while sporting +200 odds, and has seen 12 of his 14 career losses come inside the distance.
Pegged as a +150 underdog on the UFC odds, Teixeira rides a three-fight win streak into Wednesday’s action. The 40-year-old Brazilian rebounded from a unanimous decision loss to Corey Anderson at UFC Fight Night 134 with a pair of impressive submission wins over Karl Roberson and Ion Cutelaba. However, Teixeira needed a split decision to get past Nikita Krylov and pay out on -120 odds in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 158, and is winless in two career fights that extended into championship rounds.
Elsewhere on the card, Ovince Saint-Preux takes on Ben Rothwell as -140 chalk in a clash of heavyweights each searching for rare consecutive wins. Saint-Preux pumped the brakes on a two-fight losing streak with a submission win over Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC Fight Night 160, but has recorded just two wins in five outings since late 2017.
Rothwell halted a string of three straight unanimous decision losses with a second-round TKO victory over Stefan Struve at UFC on ESPN 7 while listed as a -155 wager, and has avoided a loss inside the distance in eight outings since 2013.
Further down the board, Drew Dober aims for a third straight opening-round victory as he takes on fellow lightweight Alexander Hernandez as a narrow -125 favourite. Also, Ricky Simon is pegged as -170 chalk in his bantamweight tilt with Ray Borg, while Roberson battles middleweight Marvin Vettori as a +150 underdog.
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