UFC Fight Night 67 preview: 5 storylines to watch, betting odds & predictions

By Ryan Frederick, WrestlingObserver.com

The UFC heads to Brazil once again on Saturday night, making a stop in Goiania for the second time for UFC Fight Night 67. The event’s main card airs on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday at 10 PM eastern time, with a preliminary card start time of 7 PM eastern time on UFC Fight Pass, and transitioning over to FOX Sports 1 at 8 PM eastern time.

The event will be headlined by a five-round welterweight main event bout as former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit returns from an injury layoff to take on former title challenger Thiago Alves. In the night’s semi-main event, it will be a long anticipated rematch of a no contest bout from 2011 as Nik Lentz and Charles Oliveira square off in a featherweight bout. Let’s take a closer look at the action on the fight card as we delve deeper into the card and find five storylines to look out for on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 67.

1. Carlos Condit returns from a torn ACL. How will he fare against Thiago Alves?

Carlos Condit is one of the more exciting fighters in the UFC’s welterweight division, and he is a former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion. He was looking to get back into title contention when he fought Tyron Woodley at UFC 171 in March 2014. He was having trouble with Woodley, but was hanging in there until blowing out his knee in the second round. He was eventually diagnosed with a torn ACL and underwent surgery. He hasn’t fought since then, and will be making his return after 14 months on the shelf in the main event of UFC Fight Night 67 against Thiago Alves.

Alves is someone who has a long history of injuries himself. He also has fought for the UFC Welterweight Championship, coming up on the losing end to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 100 in July 2009. He has fought just seven times in the nearly six years since that fight, going just 4-3 in that span. He missed a year of action following the loss to St. Pierre, then missed over two years of action following a loss to Martin Kampmann in March 2012. He has won two straight fights since returning from the two-year layoff, scoring wins over Seth Baczynski and Jordan Mein. Alves will now compete in his first five-round bout since the title loss to St. Pierre, and his first fight in his native Brazil in over twelve years.

While Condit and Alves have been big name fighters in the 170-pound division for many, many years, both are still relatively young at just 31-years-old. Condit comes into the fight ranked number four in the rankings, while Alves is ranked at number twelve. Both men are exciting fighters that will take a lot of risks in fights, and this is one of the more interesting fights of the year, and an excellent way to cap off a big month of fights in May. Condit may have the ring rust coming in after being out of action for so long, but Alves should know how that feels, and he didn’t show much in the way of ring rust after his two-year layoff. All things being equal, this fight should slightly favor Condit due to his speed and technique, but Alves is still a big welterweight with knockout power and good takedown defense. This should be an exciting five-round fight.

2. Nik Lentz and Charles Oliveira will finally meet in their long-awaited rematch. Who wins?

At least, we hope they will finally meet in their long-awaited rematch. They were scheduled to fight at UFC Fight Night 50 in September, but Oliveira came up ill on the day of the fight after having a brutal weight cut, and the fight was cancelled. Oliveira has been known to have brutal weight cuts since moving down to 145 pounds as it was the second of three times he had missed weight in six scheduled fights. Lentz has been wanting to get his hands on Oliveira since their first fight in June 2011, and if tensions were already high the day before they were supposed to last fight, they will be even higher now.

Lentz and Oliveira first fought at UFC Live 4 in June 2011. It ended in major controversey as Oliveira hit Lentz with a knee to the face as Lentz had his knees firmly planted on the ground. It was missed by the referee, and Oliveira capitalized by locking in a rear-naked choke and forcing Lentz to submit. It was originally a win for Oliveira, but was later changed to a no contest after Lentz filed an appeal. Lentz has been waiting for nearly four years to get his revenge, and he does at a time when he is coming in having won four of five fights since moving down to 145 pounds, with his only loss coming to perennial contender Chad Mendes.

Oliveira is coming in on a hot streak as well having won three straight fights since dropping back-to-back fights to Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson. Oliveira has been more active of late, fighting three times in 2014, while Lentz has fought just once in 18 months after having his two most recent fights cancelled within 24 hours of them being scheduled to take place. Oliviera has more upside and a better chance to fight for the title, but Lentz has the solid wrestling skills to give Oliveira trouble. Their first fight was going back-and-forth before the unfortuante end, but Oliveira was getting the upper hand, and I expect him to do so again.

3. Can Jussier Formiga or Wilson Reis sneak into the flyweight title picture?
Buried all the way down in the preliminary card is a flyweight bout between Jussier Formiga and Wilson Reis. It is a fight that certainly has a lot more on the line than it’s placement would lead you to believe. Formiga is currently ranked number four at 125 pounds while Reis is ranked at number twelve. Both men have won two straight fights in impressive fashion. Both have seemed to gotten lost in the shuffle of the four flyweight contenders who fought this past Saturday, but they both have the potential to get themselves in the mix when talking about the next title contender.

John Dodson won a decision at UFC 187, but it was in lackluster fashion over Zach Makovsky. He likely is next to fight Demetrious Johnson as Dodson has been marketing himself as the guy who can defeated the only flyweight champion in UFC history despite having lost to Johnson once before. Joseph Benavidez also scored a win, but he has two losses to Johnson. Both of those men have won three straight fights, which will be identical to the winner between Formiga and Reis. Neither Formiga nor Reis have fought Johnson, but Formiga’s two UFC losses have come to Dodson and Benavidez. Reis has yet to fight a ranked flyweight contender until he steps inside the Octagon with Formiga on Saturday.

In order to get themselves in the mix, the winner between Formiga and Reis has to be impressive, and that is going to equal a finish. They have to stand out if either wants to get ahead of Dodson and Benavidez, and perhaps even ahead of Henry Cejudo. Formiga has the better chance of a knockout, but Reis is a tough opponent and has good submission skills. Reis has been really solid since dropping down to the flyweight division, and he has actually won seven of his last eight fights. I actually slightly favor him in this bout, but Formiga is going to be a tough out. Either way, the winner needs a finish if they’re going to be able to sneak themselves into a title fight opportunity in the near future.

4. Should more attention be paid to the bout between Lucas Martins and Mirsad Bektic?

The simple answer is yes. It is opening the preliminary card action on FOX Sports 1, and it is a fight worthy of being on the main card, especially a main card the caliber of this one. This fight was put together on short notice as Bektic was originally scheduled to fight Renato Carneiro, but Carneiro was forced out due to a knee injury in late April. Martins stepped in just a few weeks ago, but he is someone who has taken fights on short notice before as he made his UFC debut on short notice against Edson Barboza. Martins has been playing around with which weight class he is going to fight in, as he has fought at lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight in his five UFC bouts, but he has seemed to find a permanent home at 145 pounds.

Bektic is a big-time prospect at 145 pounds as he is undefeated in his nine career fights, including his last two inside the UFC Octagon. He is coming off a dominant, one-sided win over Paul Redmond in January. Martins is coming in off a loss after being defeated by Darren Elkins at UFC 179 in October, which ended a three-fight win streak. Bektic is a patient fighter who relies on dominant takedowns and wearing opponents out on the ground. Martins had trouble defending the takedowns of Elkins, and Bektic will look to implement a similar gameplan. Martins is a dangerous fighter as 14 of his 15 wins have come by a finish. We have a fighter who is 15-2 against a fighter who is 9-0, and both are solid prospects in the featherweight division, and this will be a quality fight to watch out for.

5. What are some other things to watch for on this fight card?

As is typical with fight cards taking place in Brazil, there are a lot of Brazilians fighting on the card as every fight features a Brazilian fighter. On the main card, K.J. Noons is making the trip to Brazil to take on Alex Oliveira, who is taking his second straight UFC bout on very short notice. Oliveira came close to scoring the upset over Gilbert Burns, but he faded late and gave the fight away in the third round. Noons is more dangerous on his feet than Burns, and it will be a different fight for Oliveira.

Former TUF winner Norman Parke also gets a late notice opponent as Francisco Trinaldo steps in on short notice. Parke was supposed to fight the aforementioned Gilbert Burns, and Trinaldo is the same style of opponent as Burns, but not as well touted on the ground. Another former TUF winner headlines the preliminary card action as Rony “Jason” Bezerra takes on Damon Jackson. Both men are looking to rebound from disappointing losses in their last fight, and Jackson is making his UFC featherweight debut in this fight. He had travel issues earlier in the week, so it will be interesting to see if it affects his weight cut and his performance.

Full UFC Fight Night 67 Fight Card, Betting Odds and Predictions

MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)

Welterweights: Carlos Condit vs. Thiago Alves
Betting Odds: Condit (-260), Alves (+220)
Prediction: Condit by decision

Featherweights: Nik Lentz vs. Charles Oliveira
Betting Odds: Lentz (+230), Oliveira (-270)
Prediction: Oliveira by submission in round 2

Lightweights: K.J. Noons vs. Alex Oliveira
Betting Odds: Noons (+110), Oliveira (-130)
Prediction: Noons by decision

Light Heavyweights: Francimar Barroso vs. Ryan Jimmo
Betting Odds: Barroso (+230), Jimmo (-270)
Prediction: Jimmo by decision

Lightweights: Francisco Trinaldo vs. Norman Parke
Betting Odds: Trinaldo (+200), Parke (-240)
Prediction: Parke by decision

Welterweights: Wendell Oliveira vs. Darren Till
Betting Odds: Oliveira (-120), Till (+100)
Prediction: Till by decision

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)

Featherweights: Rony Jason vs. Damon Jackson
Betting Odds: Jason (-190), Jackson (+165)
Prediction: Jason by submission in round 2

Flyweights: Jussier Formiga vs. Wilson Reis
Betting Odds: Formiga (-155), Reis (+135)
Prediction: Reis by decision

Welterweights: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Nicolas Dalby
Betting Odds: dos Santos (+290), Dalby (-350)
Prediction: Dalby by knockout in round 1

Featherweights: Lucas Martins vs. Mirsad Bektic
Betting Odds: Martins (+300), Bektic (-360)
Prediction: Bektic by decision

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 7 PM ET/4 PM PT)

Women’s Strawweights: Juliana Lima vs. Ericka Almeida
Betting Odds: Lima (-200), Almeida (+170)
Prediction: Lima by decision

Welterweights: Luiz Dutra vs. Tom Breese
Betting Odds: Dutra (+135), Breese (-155)
Prediction: Breese by knockout in round 3