Cristiane Cyborg (-250)
I wrote in the other article that I felt this line was too close, and it’s time to put my money where my mouth is, right? I have a more detailed outline of Cyborg in our “Battle of the Bales” article, but I’ll make a few points here. Cyborg is the bigger fighter, which may be her biggest advantage. She’ll decide where this fight takes place, and over five rounds, Cyborg will prove to be the better striker. Amanda Nunes tends to start fights fast before fading in the later rounds. Cyborg is far too smart of a fighter to allow Nunes to win this fight early on with a fast start. She’ll likely use a methodical pace to wear down Nunes before taking over in the later rounds. The size and cardio of Cyborg gives her a massive advantage of Nunes, and once she convincingly wins this fight, she can be labeled the most dominant woman in MMA history.
Bet 2.5 units on Cyborg to win 1 unit
Nathaniel Wood (-125)
This should be an extremely fun fight for as long as it lasts. Andre Ewell is an older “prospect,” who defeated Renan Barao in his UFC debut. Nathaniel Wood is a young, true prospect of the sport, who finished Johnny Eduardo with an impressive Brabo Choke in his UFC debut. Both fighters have similar fight experience, but one thing stands out. Wood has fought the better competition, and I believe that is what will separate him from Ewell in this fight. I believe both fighters can go all three rounds, while Wood is the more likely to the duo to find a finish. He simply has more ways to win, and he’s done it against more proven competition. While I’ll be interested in who Ewell fights next, I don’t believe this is the matchup for him to take advantage of.
Bet 1.25 units on Wood to win 1 unit
Uriah Hall (+105)
Despite having one of the best nicknames in the mixed martial arts world, and having an undefeated record, Bevon “The Extraordinary Gentleman” Lewis does not deserve to be the favorite this Saturday against Uriah Hall. Lewis is coming off an impressive first-round finish against Alton Cunningham on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, but outside of winning on both season one and season two of that show, he has never fought in the UFC. This is a major step up in competition, and although training at Jackson-Wink MMA is no joke, the primetime spotlight is different than camp. It can be argued that Uriah Hall is no longer a top-level fighter, but looking at his recent fight history, that is not the case. He only has one victory in his last five fights, which came via TKO against Krzysztof Jotko. In his other four fights, he picked up loses against Paulo Henrique Costa, Gegard Mousasi, Derek Brunson, and Robert Whittaker. That level of competition is FIERCE. Even though Hall has not won a fight since 2015, this will be the easiest competition he goes up against since entering the UFC in 2013 against Kelvin Gastelum. Hall is marked via Vegas as the underdog, but he should be the favorite.
Bet 1 unit on Hall to win 1.05 units
Parlay Bet
Parlay 1 unit on Jon Jones, Cristiane Cyborg, Walt Harris, Petr Yan, and Ryan Hall to win 3.8 units
