UFC 98 Undercard

If you want to know how good the UFC 98: Machida vs. Evans undercard is, look no further than this fact: a fighter who won a main card fight at UFC 97 is a part of it.

That’s right, “The Polish Experiment,” Krzysztof Soszynski, coming off his easy victory over Brian Stann by kimura submission, is already back and ready to go. He’ll take on Andre Gusmao in Las Vegas. Gusmao should be a tough opponent for Soszynski as Soszynski continues to try and diversify his game.

Phillipe Nover is another intriguing prospect on the undercard, as “The Filipino Assassin” tries to recover from his unexpected Ultimate Fighter Finale loss to Efrain Escudero in a bout against Kyle Bradley, a solid-if-unspectacular lightweight challenger.

Nover’s slick jiu-jitsu skills have him listed as a -400 to +250 favorite over Bradley but he’ll need to show a little more toughness in the Octagon to win than he did in his last fight.

Yoshiyuki Yoshida will bring his always fun to watch judo game back into the Octagon in a matchup with Brandon Wolff. Yoshida is a -500 to +300 favorite over Wolff as he looks to bounce back from a tough split decision loss to Karo Parisyan.

“Diamond” Dave Kaplan will bring his wacky antics back into the Octagon in another undercard fight, this time against George Roop in a battle of Ultimate Fighter alums. Kaplan is a +110 to -150 underdog against Roop, which makes sense considering his recent bad loss to Junie Browning.

Brock Larson might be the best undercard fighter of them all with his 26-2 record, and he will put his wrestling skills to the test against Chris Wilson, one of those solid undercard gatekeeper-types that populate most UFC betting undercards.

Finally, Patrick Barry is a big favorite against Tim Hague at -350 to +225. Barry has flown pretty far under the radar lately, but he scored an easy quality win (for an up-and-comer) over Dan Evenson at UFC 92 via leg kicks, showing off his versatility and dangerous striking ability.

Hague, aka “The Thrashing Machine,” looks like one of those stereotypical barroom brawlers from the UFC days of old, and he brings a 30-pound weight advantage to the Octagon against Barry. But Barry seems like a guy the UFC can possibly promote and they most likely gave him this fight knowing he’d be too quick for Hague.

In any event, it’ll be fun to see the massive 260-pound Hague in there against Barry as part of what should be a very good UFC 98 undercard.

Provided by Nick Meyer at BetUS