Can Xiaonan keep this fight on the feet?

Zane Simon & Connor Ruebusch are back to break down this week’s UFC event in Las Vegas, NV. With picks and odds for every fight on the card. From Mackenzie Dern vs. Xiaonan Yan in the main event down to Randy Costa vs. Guido Cannetti in the opening prelim.

The UFC’s is back with a super special secret event, apparently; putting Mackenzie Dern’s bid to become a strawweight title contender against Yan Xiaonan behind closed doors with no media allowed, for reasons yet to become clear. It’s not the most fascinating card ever created, but most of the bouts promise solid action, if not a whole lot of meaning.

For fans interested in diving deeper into the undercard, check out the Prelims Vivi below.

June M. Williams

The MMA Vivisection is brought to you by ‘The Fine Art of Violence’, a collection of art and essays recapping the year in MMA by Chris Rini, featuring the most talented artists and writers in Mixed Martial Arts. The book is available in both hard copy and digital formats at chrisrini.com.

Here’s a look at the UFC Vegas 61 fight card as it stood at the time of recording:

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | 7pm/4pm ET&PT
Mackenzie Dern vs. Xiaonan Yan — At 5:45, Odds 19:25, Picks, Both: Dern
Randy Brown vs. Francisco Trinaldo — At 20:27, Odds 29:47, Picks, Both: Brown
Raoni Barcelos vs. Trevin Jones — At 31:11, Odds 38:52, Picks, Both: Barcelos
Sodiq Yusuff vs. Don Shainis — At 39:49, Odds 50:27, Picks, Both: Yusuff
John Castañeda vs. Daniel Santos — At 51:56, Odds 1:06:49, Picks, Zane: Santos, Connor: Castañeda
Mike Davis vs. Viacheslav Borshchev — At 1:07:09, Odds 1:22:17, Picks, Both: Borshchev

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 4pm/1pm ET&PT
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Ilir Latifi — At 2:46, Odds 11:32, Picks, Both: Latifi
Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci — At 12:00, Odds 19:33, Picks, Both: Penne
Joaquim Silva vs. Jesse Ronson — At 20:25, Odds 21:48, Picks, Zane: Ronson, Connor: Silva
Brendan Allen vs. Krzysztof Jotko — At 22:33, Odds 29:30, Picks, Both: Allen
Maxim Grishin vs. Philipe Lins — At 30:21, Odds 35:40, Picks, Zane: Lins, Connor: Grishin
Julija Stoliarenko vs. Chelsea Chandler — At 35:46, Odds 36:27, Picks, Both: Stoliarenko
Randy Costa vs. Guido Cannetti — At 36:38, Odds 37:46, Picks, Both: Costa

For those of you following the picks made on the show, we started tracking them with the July 13th, 2020 Vivisection shows for UFC Fight Island 1: ‘Kattar vs. Ige’. So far, here are the overall standings:

• For our last event, UFC Vegas 60: Sandhagen vs. Song: Zane went 7/13 for 54%, while Connor tied with 7/13 for 54% as well
• Overall from UFC Fight Island 1 through UFC Vegas 60: Zane is now at 728/1124 for 64.8% and Connor is now at 684/1124 for 60.9%
• So far, in 2022: Zane is at 259/387 for 67% and Connor is at 242/387 for 63%
• 2021: Zane went 305/493 for 62% and Connor went 285/493 for 58%
• July-Dec 2020: Zane went 164/244 for 67% and Connor went 157/244 for 64%
  Reference: Vivi Picks Stats_9.29.22.pdf

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