UFC Fight Night 109 Betting: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira
Up next on the UFC schedule is a stop in Stockholm, Sweden for UFC Fight Night 109 on Sunday, 28 May 2017 at 7 PM local time / 1 PM ET in the USA.
The headline matchup of the night is a light-heavyweight contender bout between Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira. Although the current UFC rankings rate Gustafsson as the #1 contender and Teixeira as the #2 contender, the winner of this fight will not get a direct shot at Daniel Cormier as he is already scheduled to fight Jon Jones at UFC 214.
Best Betting Sites for UFC Fight Night
Even so, this is an important match for both men as they sit near the top of the rankings and both could use another big win to make a case for a title shot. European fighters will have a heavy presence on this card and based on some of the names I’m seeing, we should see some great fights even if these aren’t all top-draw names.
Here’s the full UFC Fight Night 109 card:
FS1 Main Card
- Alexander Gustafsson vs. Glover Teixeira (Light Heavyweight)
- Volkan Oezdemir vs. Misha Cirkunov (Light Heavyweight)
- Peter Sobotta vs. Ben Saunders (Welterweight)
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Omari Akhmedov (Welterweight)
- Emil Meek vs. Nordine Taleb (Welterweight)
- Jack Hermansson vs. Alex Nicholson (Middleweight)
FS1 Prelims
- Pedro Munhoz vs. Damian Stasiak (Bantamweight)
- Trevor Smith vs. Chris Camozzi (Middleweight)
- Mairbek Taisumov vs. Joaquim Silva (Lightweight)
- Nico Musoke vs. Bojan Velickovic (Welterweight)
UFC Fight Pass Early Prelims
- Darren Till vs. Jessin Ayari (Welterweight)
- Marcin Held vs. Damir Hadzovic (Lightweight)
- Damian Grabowski vs. Christian Colombo (Heavyweight)
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Glover Teixeira Preview
Alexander Gustafsson (17-4) is just 2-3 in his last five fights, but with all three of those losses coming against top competition in Jon Jones (Sep 2013), Anthony Johnson (January 2015) and Daniel Cormier (Oct 2015). Gustafsson most recently notched another check in the win column with a unanimous win decision over Jan Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night 93 this past September.
Don’t let that 2-3 record put you off too much on Gustafsson; all three of those losses came against fighters who have either held the light heavyweight belt recently or Anthony Johnson (who is just as tough as anyone). Gustafsson has definitely had the tougher schedule of the two and is finally coming in off a confidence-building win.
On one hand, Gustafsson seems to have slowed a bit in recent years. He has only finished one fighter in his last seven bouts, and that one was back in 2014.
On the other hand, he hasn’t been fighting all that frequently and when he does fight, it is usually against one of the elite light heavyweight fighters in the world. It’s good that Gustafsson is coming off a win because anyone’s confidence is going to take a hit after going through such a tough stretch even if it was against the best in the world.
Glover Teixeira (26-5) has been more active of late and has gone 4-1 over his last five with wins over Ovince St. Preux (Aug 2015), Patrick Cummins (Nov 2015), Rashad Evans (April 2016) and most recently over Jared Cannonier this February. Teixeira’s last loss came at the hands of Anthony Johnson at UFC 202 this past August.
Teixeira seems to be going somewhat unnoticed lately, but he has performed very well lately with a spate of wins over tough fighters. However, Gustafsson will be his biggest challenge yet. A win over Gustafsson might be enough to give Teixeira the title shot against the winner of Cormier/Jones.
Teixeira enters this fight with momentum at his back having achieved three early finishes in a row before losing to Anthony Johnson but then quickly recovering with a safe decision victory over Jared Cannonier just a few months back. Teixeira is best known for his highlight-reel-worthy KOs, but he is a well-rounded fighter who is just as capable of winning with a submission as he is with a big KO.
How they Match Up
Alexander is the younger and bigger of the two at 30 years of age with a three-inch reach advantage. Teixeira is 37 years old and not as quick as Gustafsson, but he is crafty and highly experienced fighter with a long career already behind him.
This fight will be especially telling regarding the state of Alexander Gustafsson as a fighter moving forward. He has had a tough run in recent times, but just about anyone in the world would have had similar results against the likes of Jon Jones, Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier. If Gustafsson can get back in there and put a dominant performance in against the surging Teixeira, it speaks well of his future prospects.
Likewise, Glover Teixeira’s stock will go way up if he can beat the tall and formidable Gustafsson. Many seem to have written off Teixeira based on his age and the overall lack of attention he receives, so a win at UFC Fight Night 109 will be a huge for his own prospects.
UFC Fight Night 109 Betting Odds
MMA bookmakers have installed Gustafsson as the favourite to win this bout at around 10/21 (-210). Those are comfortable odds, but they are far from dominant. Teixeira has proven time and again over his long career that he has the KO power to finish anyone at any time. And if that doesn’t work out, Teixeira is just as comfortable on the ground.
The oddsmakers are not taking other wagers on the rest of the card as of this writing, but they may add more markets as we get closer to fight night. For now, here’s what the top betting sites are paying for each fighter.
Other UFC Fight Nights:
Wes Burns has more than a decade’s worth of experience as a writer, researcher, and analyst in the legal online betting industry and is co-founder of OnlineBettingSites.com. Wes approaches his work from the viewpoint of players.