MMA Picks and Preview for UFC Fight Night 139

UFC Fight Night 139 will take place this Saturday Night, from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.  The card currently had 12 fights scheduled to take place on FS1 and the UFC’s Fight Pass.

Originally, this card was slated to be headlined by a featherweight war between Frankie “The Answer” Edgar and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung, however, Edgar was injured about a month ago, and now Yair Rodriguez will step in and face off with Jung.

In the co-main event, we will see hometown hero Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone taking on “Platinum” Mike Perry in a Welterweight battle that should be a standup war.  Both of these guys like to utilize the standup but have various styles. Cerrone is a more methodical fighter whereas Perry likes to stand right in front of his opponent and try his best to knock his opponents head off.

UFC Fight Night 139 Main Event Breakdowns

The Main Event will feature Chan Sung Jung taking on Yair Rodriguez in a 5 round Featherweight Division fight.  Chan Sung Jung is 14-4 overall and 4-1 in the UFC, while Yair Rodriguez is 10-2 overall and 6-1 overall. Both of these guys are known for putting on spectacular fights that are very exciting and that are striking wars!

Jung is 31-years old and enters this fight off a 1st round KO of Dennis Bermudez at UFC Fight Night 104. Jung hasn’t stepped in the cage since that fight with Bermudez, which was over 18 months ago on February 4, 2017.  Jung has never been a fighter that really fights very frequent, and it has never seemed that ring rust plays a part in his absence from the octagon.

Jung fought on 2/4/2017, and before that his last fight was 8/3/2013.  Prior to that fight, he fought on 5/15/2012.  As you can see, he is not a very active fighter and doesn’t fight frequently.

Rodriguez is 26-years old and is coming in off a loss by doctors stoppage to Frankie Edgar in the 2nd round.  Rodriguez disagreed with his contract and caused him to miss some time from the UFC. He hasn’t fought since May 13, 2017, at UFC 211 and that is the longest stretch he has had without a fight, so it is tough to determine how he will do here.

The fact remains that “The Korean Zombie” has only fought 2 times since 2012 and now is facing one of the most talented featherweights in the division.  Oddsmakers have made Jung the slight favorite in this fight at -127, but the trends are telling us to jump on the Rodriguez bandwagon.

We don’t see Rodriguez losing two in a row and think Jung will have a hard time with the distance Yair will fight at. Look for Rodriguez to stay on the outside and pick away at Jung to get the decision win.

Handicapping Selection: Yair Rodriguez +120 winner by unanimous decision

UFC Fight Night 139 Main Card

Chan Sung Jung 14-4 vs. Yair Rodriguez 10-2
Donald Cerrone 33-11 vs. Mike Perry 12-3
Raquel Pennington 9-6 vs. Germaine de Randamie 7-3
Beneil Dariush 14-4-1 vs. Thiago Moises 11-2
Maycee Barber 5-0 vs. Hannah Cifers 8-2
Luis Pena 5-0 vs. Mike Trizano 7-0

UFC Fight Night 139 Prelims

Amanda Cooper 3-4 vs. Ashley Yoder 5-4
Chas Skelly 17-3 vs. Bobby Moffett 13-3
Davi Ramos 8-2 vs. John Gunther 7-0
Julian Erosa 22-5 vs. Devonte Smith 8-1

UFC Fight Night 139 Early Prelims

Eric Shelton 11-5 vs. Joseph Morales 9-1
Mark De La Rosa 10-1 vs. Joby Sanchez 11-3

UFC Fight Night 139 Top Play

Beneil Dariush -140 —Dariush was originally scheduled to fight Chris Gruetzemacher, but due to injury, Gruetzemacher was injured and forced him out of the fight.  Thiago Moises will step in on short notice, and take the fight against Dariush. The last time we saw Moises, he was on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series and got the KO over Gleidson Cutis. Fighting a relative journeyman and fighting Beneil Dariush are two totally different things!  Dariush gets back in the win column here!

UFC Fight Night 139 Underdog

Donald Cerrone +180 — This fight is a battle of two totally different fighters.  Perry is going to stand right in front of Cerrone and dare him to knock him out. Perry struggled with a much smaller Paul Felder while Cerrone, unlike most of the fighters that Perry has faced off against, is smart enough to know better than to stand right in front of Perry.  I look for Cerrone to take this fight to the ground early and make it a grappling battle. Cerrone stands a great chance at submitting Perry in this fight early in the first round!