Preliminary look at next week. I like to see who I'm favoring in my head before the lines come out. Especially since we don't have a bellator/ufc card for a few weeks.
Checco-Byrd: Checco has great BJJ but not much else. Seems pretty hittable. I have a feeling Checco will open as the favorite unless Byrd gets a bump from winning his first DWTNC fight. Leaning Byrd unless he can't deal with Checco's grappling at all.
Dawson-Diaz - Dawson's record isn't from total cans, but Diaz already has a good few fights against higher-level guys (wins and losses). Dawson has great wrestling, okay standup. I think Diaz can overcome it. Lean Diaz. He's also from Stockton.
Reed-Olson - Really difficult to judge this. Both seem solid all around, but Reed is pretty untested and Olson doesn't have any great wins. I'm gonna take the gamble and go with Reed. Don't tail me too hard here tho.
Day-Alvarez - Tossup here. Alvarez was on TUF and got subbed early by Candido. Seems solid otherwise. Both have been cracked once before, but both have solid striking. Leaning Alvarez
Masters-Colleen - Colleen has great striking. KO'd Danielle Taylor in kotc and almost went the full 5 rounds with her in a rematch. Masters has decent standup but great wrestling. Colleen fights out of Renzo Gracie's team but I haven't seen her grappling tested on tape, and definitely seems to favor standup. I have a feeling Masters could still sub her though, as long as she doesn't get rocked on the feet. Leaning Masters. Actually looking forward to this fight a lot too. Both are finishers and look a lot more promising than 90% of the strawweights on the upcoming TUF season
For the first time I'm not super confident about anyone this week, but I'm leaning toward a few I'm expecting to be underdogs. Right now my biggest bet will prob be Diaz unless his line sucks (don't think it will tho judging by Dawson's record). Looking forward to discussing them more with you guys.