TIM MEANS VS. NIKO PRICE ADDED TO UFC WICHITA

Posted July 10, 2019

UFC Wichita (UFC Fight Night 146) Occurs Saturday, March 9 in Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

The card previously was shown to be headlined by heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Junior dos Santos, and over the weekend a few new preliminary bouts were added into the card, through ESPN. The new bouts are listed below, together with my initial reactions to them, in the modern version of MMA odds and ends.
Tim Means vs. Niko Price, UFC Fight Night 146
An intriguing welterweight matchup between Tim Means and Niko Price is set for UFC Fight Night 146. Means (28-10, 1 NC) is 10-7, 1 NC from the UFC and is coming from a TKO win over Ricky Rainey that snapped a two-fight split conclusion losing skid. At 34 he’s started to age but showed in the Rainey fight his remarkable abilities are still top notch. Cost (12-2, 1 NC) is 4-2, 1 NC in the UFC and is coming from a quick TKO loss to Abdul Razak Alhassan which has been a disappointing followup to his barbarous KO win over Randy Brown in the summertime. What a great battle this is involving Means and Price because it is a battle between two men who can finish the battle on the feet and on the floor. I can see this one going either way, and this may be a surprise to those who have been after me for many years, but I had really slightly lean towards Price here simply because of his age advantage and the reality Means was in so many wars. The opening line should be close, but I would probably peg Cost as a slight favorite in the open.
Alex Morono vs. Zak Ottow, UFC Fight Night 146
Welterweights Alex Morono and Zak Ottow will also meet with this card. Morono (15-5, 1 NC) is 4-2, 1 NC at the UFC and defeated Kenan Song at a”Battle of the Night” performance his last time out. Ottow (17-6) is 4-3 in the UFC and is coming from a split decision win over Dwight Grant. This is a really evenly-matched connection between two men in the middle of the bunch at 170lbs who’ve been inconsistent in their UFC careers. I have been slightly more impressed with Morono within the Octagon so I would prefer him just a bit here, but on paper it’s a close matchup and I expect the opening line to be close a Select’em.
Louis Smolka vs. Matt Schnell, UFC Fight Night 146
And finally, Louis Smolka and Matt Schnell will proceed up to bantamweight and compete on this card. Smolka (15-5) recently made his return to the UFC using a submission win over Mudaerji. All-time Smolka includes a 6-5 record from the UFC and is currently riding a four-fight win streak complete in MMA. Schnell (11-4) is 2-2 at the UFC and conquered Naoki Inoue and Marco Beltran in his past two outings. Although Schnell has looked better recently, Smolka is the talented fighter and is more proven fighting at 135lbs. I’d have to prefer Smolka to win this particular fight, and the fact it is not occurring at flyweight is another sign the branch is going to be shut down this season.
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