Before we begin, one note from the world of baseball and one note from MMA:

Reports Monday indicate that the 2021 World Baseball Classic has been canceled, although no official announcement has been made as of Monday afternoon.

Qualifiers for the tournament are still postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tournament officials believe that the WBC will not be held until 2023, pending negotiation and ratification between Major League Baseball and its players’ association of a new collective bargaining agreement after the current CBA lapses following next season.

The tournament would have to be negotiated into the new CBA for it to take place.

Secondly, Kelvin Gastelum has picked up a second suspension from USADA due to a positive marijuana test.

Onward to today’s topic:

For the first time in nearly four years, the UFC will hold a midweek event this Wednesday night.

UFC on ESPN+ 29 takes place (where else?) on ESPN+ this Wednesday at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, and as was the case with UFC 249 a few days ago, this card will take place without fans in the arena due to safety protocol instituted in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In total, ESPN+ will air and stream 11 fights in Jacksonville beginning at 6 p.m. ET, 3 p.m. PT with the undercard.

Main card action will follow at 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT on ESPN+.

Highlighting the 10-fight card is a Light Heavyweight showcase between No. 3 contender Anthony Smith (31-14) vs, No. 8 contender Glover Texieira (30-7) in a five-round fight.

Contender Comparison:

Heading into the Wednesday night main event, Anthony Smith is the taller combatant at 6-foot-4, two inches taller than Glover Texieira at 6-foot-2.

How they got here:

Both fighters in this main attraction have posted 4-1 records in their last five fights.

For Anthony Smith, he enters the main event having stopped Alexander Gustafsson (fourth-round submission) almost a year ago in UFC on ESPN+ 11’s main event.

Gustafsson would retire following the fight.

In the other corner, Glover Texieira has posted a four-fight winning streak heading into this contest, having defeated Nikita Krylov (split decision) in UFC on ESPN+ 16 last September in Vancouver, BC.

The Tale of the Tape:

UFC.com shows that both fighters are level in reach (76 inches apiece) with Anthony Smith owning a 1.5-inch leg reach (44 inches to 42.5 inches) over Glover Texieira heading into this main event.

Prediction: Glover Texieira by unanimous decision.

Other fights on Wednesday’s main card include:

Ben Rothwell (37-12) vs. Ovince Saint-Preux (24-13) [Heavyweight co-main event]

No. 15 contender Alexander Hernandez (11-2) vs. Drew Dober (22-9, one no-contest) [Lightweight]

Ricky Simon (15-3) vs. Ray Borg (13-4) [Bantamweight]

Andrei Arlovski (28-18, two no-contests) vs. Philipe Lins (14-3, UFC debut) [Heavyweight]

Michael Johnson (20-15) vs. Thiago Moises (12-4) [Lightweight]

UFC on ESPN+ 29 at a Glance (all times Wednesday:)

Undercard: 6 p.m. ET, 3 p.m. PT

Main Card: 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT

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