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UFC Fight Night 81 Preview
UFC Fight Night 81 Preview
UFC Fight Night 81: Dillashaw vs. Cruz
Sunday, January 17th – 10:00 p.m. ET
Boston, Massachusetts
Five Round Bantamweight Title Bout
TJ Dillashaw(13-2-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (20-1-0)
Line: Dillashaw -145, Cruz +115
TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz meet in an evenly-matched title bout at the TD Garden in UFC Fight Night 81.
TJ Dillashaw is the current bantamweight champion, and the 29-year-old California native has not lost since 2013. Overall, he has suffered just two defeats, which came against distinguished fighters John Dodson and Raphael Assunção. Nearly half of his victories come via knockout, so a quick fight could work in his favor. Dominick Cruz is a former bantamweight champion, but he has fought just once since 2011 due to a series of injuries, including a second torn ACL. Rust could be a factor in this bout, but Cruz certainly has the pedigree to emerge with a win.
Dillashaw connects on an impressive 5.81 significant strikes per minute at a rate of 44.55 percent. He absorbs less than half this number at 2.63 per minute, and defends such strikes at a 68.38 percent clip. With 1.76 takedown attempts per 15 minutes and a 38.89 percent takedown accuracy, Dillashaw may be better off relying on his boxing skills, but it should be noted that he has successfully defended 100 percent of takedowns attempted on him, and also averages a solid 1.38 submissions attempted per 15 minutes.
Cruz has a longer reach than Dillashaw, but connects on far fewer significant strikes per minute at 3.4 with a lowly accuracy of 30.92 percent. He does, however, absorb less significant strikes at 1.86 percent at a high clip of 76.46 percent. Also, Cruz averages 3.95 takedown attempts per 15 minutes at a 56.96 percent rate, and he has defended takedowns 83.33 percent of the time. Despite this, his submission average is far lower than that of Cruz at just 0.09 attempted per 15 minutes.
Other UFC Fight Night 81 Bouts & Odds -
Bantamweight Bout:
Joey Gomez +180
Rob Font -225
Light Heavyweight Bout:
Sean O'Connell +207
Ilir Latifi -260
Lightweight Bout:
Daron Cruickshank +200
Paul Felder -250
Featherweight Bout:
Luke Sanders -105
Maximo Blanco -125
Light Heavyweight Bout:
Ed Herman +197
Tim Boestch -245
Welterweight Bout:
Patrick Cote +110
Ben Saunders -140
Lightweight Bout:
Francisco Trinaldo +130
Ross Pearson -160
Heavyweight Bout:
Matt Mitrione +120
Travis Browne -150
Lightweight Bout:
Eddie Alvarez +235
Anthony Pettis -300
UFC Fight Night 81: Dillashaw vs. Cruz
Sunday, January 17th – 10:00 p.m. ET
Boston, Massachusetts
Five Round Bantamweight Title Bout
TJ Dillashaw(13-2-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (20-1-0)
Line: Dillashaw -145, Cruz +115
TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz meet in an evenly-matched title bout at the TD Garden in UFC Fight Night 81.
TJ Dillashaw is the current bantamweight champion, and the 29-year-old California native has not lost since 2013. Overall, he has suffered just two defeats, which came against distinguished fighters John Dodson and Raphael Assunção. Nearly half of his victories come via knockout, so a quick fight could work in his favor. Dominick Cruz is a former bantamweight champion, but he has fought just once since 2011 due to a series of injuries, including a second torn ACL. Rust could be a factor in this bout, but Cruz certainly has the pedigree to emerge with a win.
Dillashaw connects on an impressive 5.81 significant strikes per minute at a rate of 44.55 percent. He absorbs less than half this number at 2.63 per minute, and defends such strikes at a 68.38 percent clip. With 1.76 takedown attempts per 15 minutes and a 38.89 percent takedown accuracy, Dillashaw may be better off relying on his boxing skills, but it should be noted that he has successfully defended 100 percent of takedowns attempted on him, and also averages a solid 1.38 submissions attempted per 15 minutes.
Cruz has a longer reach than Dillashaw, but connects on far fewer significant strikes per minute at 3.4 with a lowly accuracy of 30.92 percent. He does, however, absorb less significant strikes at 1.86 percent at a high clip of 76.46 percent. Also, Cruz averages 3.95 takedown attempts per 15 minutes at a 56.96 percent rate, and he has defended takedowns 83.33 percent of the time. Despite this, his submission average is far lower than that of Cruz at just 0.09 attempted per 15 minutes.
Other UFC Fight Night 81 Bouts & Odds -
Bantamweight Bout:
Joey Gomez +180
Rob Font -225
Light Heavyweight Bout:
Sean O'Connell +207
Ilir Latifi -260
Lightweight Bout:
Daron Cruickshank +200
Paul Felder -250
Featherweight Bout:
Luke Sanders -105
Maximo Blanco -125
Light Heavyweight Bout:
Ed Herman +197
Tim Boestch -245
Welterweight Bout:
Patrick Cote +110
Ben Saunders -140
Lightweight Bout:
Francisco Trinaldo +130
Ross Pearson -160
Heavyweight Bout:
Matt Mitrione +120
Travis Browne -150
Lightweight Bout:
Eddie Alvarez +235
Anthony Pettis -300