UFC Fight Night - Pellegrino vs Emerson
by Dave D
Kurt Pellegrino (18-4) vs Rob Emerson (10-6-1)
Kurt Pellegrino and Rob Emerson will get the party started for UFC Fight Night betting on Saturday, on the telecast, that is and it should be a good bout of two solid lightweights.
Emerson, you might recall, is from The Ultimate Fighter 5 and is riding a six fight winning streak.
Pellegrino has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and even though his 18-4 record looks impressive, he has not matched expectations in UFC. At times, he looks like he’s on the cusp of becoming something special with wins over Nate Mohr, Alberto Crane and Thiago Tavares. And then there’s the bad, including two bad beatings at the hands of Joe Stevenson and Nate Diaz. The loss to Diaz was particularly bad, as Diaz was waving around a middle finger.
Emerson comes in on more of a high, including a knockout over Manny Gamburyan, but overall he’s pretty average. He does a few things well, but no part of his game will overwhelm you.
When they are standing, Emerson figures to have a slight advantage but on the ground, Pellegrino should dominate. As a matter of fact, that’s probably where he’ll win the fight.
Emerson’s takedown defense is sub par, which means that like it or not, he’ll find himself struggling with Pellegrino on the mat.
The UFC lines indicate that Pellegrino is a -240 favorite and as long as he shows up with a good effort, he will win this fight. Emerson is just too vanilla to trust, even though the UFC odds are tempted as more than a 2-to-1 underdog.
UFC Fight Night betting pick: Pellegrino -240
