Over three years after their initial championship bout we get the reamtch of Stipe Miocic and Francis N’Gannou. The heavyweight title is on the line for this one in a fight card that costs $70 and is worth paying for as long as a few friends are willing to split it with you.
Here are some specifics. The early prelims kick off at 7:30pm on ESPN+. The prelims then start at 8pm on ESPN and ESPN+. Then the main card kick off at 10pm on ESPN+ PPV.
I will give you my predictions in the order the fights are to take place. All odds are courtesy of Bet MGM. The King of Sports Books! For new users head on over there and use the promocode PatEgan100 and bet $1 on the Sixers Clippers game tonight, and if the team you bet on wins, youll win $100 in free bets!
66-47-3 so far this year ( 22-15-3 on locks)
(6-4 last fight card. 2-1 on locks)
PRELIMS
Abu Azaitar (lock) +100
Shane Young +170
Modestas Bukauskas +145
Abuakar Nurmagomedov (lock) -250
Alonzo Menifield-275
MAIN EVENT TIME
Khama Worthy vs. Jamie Mullarkey
Jamie Mullarkey is in danger of going 0-3 in the UFC octogan. He hasnt had an easy start to his UFC career, facing Brad Riddell and Fares Ziam, and Khama Worthy is no walk in the park. Worthy’s striking is crisp, and if you want to go to the mat with him he can lock up a submission. Mullarkey will HAVE to strike with Worthy and will quickly realize its a bad idea.
Khama Worthy (lock) -125
Gillian Robertson vs. Miranda Maverick
This is a grapplers dream. Robertson is a beast on the ground. and while Maverick is the shiny new thing in the UFC, she is a PROBLEM when she gets her opponents on the ground. So that leads one to believe these two stand and trade for 3 rounds and thats where I give Maverick the advantage. Robertson is great off her back, and I think if the fight does go to the mat its going to be Maverick pushing Robertson against the cage and eventually getting her down. I think anyway this fight goes, its Maverick coming out on top.
Miranda Maverick. (lock) -165
Thomas Almeida vs. Sean O’Malley
The book is out on how to beat O’Malley. Calf kicks. The drop foot issue first reared it ugly head in the Soukhamthath fight, that somehow O’Malley won because Soukhamthath was an idiot and didnt have O’Malley stand up. O’Malley escaped that fight with a victory, but he didnt get so lucky in his last fight against Chito Vera who hit him with a vicious calf kick and dropped O’Malley, who couldnt stand, and forced the ref to step in giving O’Malley his first loss. So I would expect Almeida to come out firing at the calf early, trying to have a 3rd fight where O’Malley is hopping around on one fight. But I like O’Malley to regain his “Suga Show” form. Smothering Almeida with his striking ability and getting the stopage victory.
Sean O’Malley -350
Tyron Woodley vs. Vicente Luque
Woodley has only lost…..*counts*…..15 rounds IN A ROW. What Tyron Woodley needs is to be taken to a dark gym in LA where he sees the eye of the tiger staring back at him. His struggles with money (he went broke being champion) are known and at this point it seems like Woodley is just fighting for the paycheck, not the glory and competition. If Colby Covington couldnt rip the beast out of Woodley, then I doubt Luque will. Woodley is saying all the right things, but he did the same thing last fight against Covington and he looked horrible. Luque isnt nearly as good as Covington, but its hard to pick a guy who I just dont feel has the desire to be the best anymore.
Vicente Luque -225
Stipe Miocic vs. Francis N’Gannou
Francis N’Gannou has under 3 minutes of octagon time in his last 4 fights. All of which, he won by vicious knock out. This fight, which is taking place over 3 years after their initial bout, has a lot of similarities. When they first fought, N’Gannou was on a streak of taking souls in the octagon. It seemed it was a forgone conclusion that if Francis touched your face you went to sleep. But Stipe came in and did something no one else was able to do, wrestle N’Gannou.
Now it’d be foolish to think in the three years since N’Gannous was out wrestled that he hasnt worked on his take down game. He fought Curtis Blaydes, but never had a need to show the improved defense because he ended that fight in 45 seconds. Its just the big question mark going into this fight. Because itd be stupid for Miocic to stand and trade with N’Gannou, who in his last fight showed some of the worst technique in the world (just swinging) and yet had a highlight reel knock out.
But Stipe is a vet, who loves playing spoiler. Its obvious that Dana White and the UFC want Francis to win to set up Jon Jones VS Francis. But I thin Stipe comes out, keeping distance and hitting N’Gannous with leg kicks. This will take away Francis’ explosiveness and some of his power. If Francis rushes in, Stipe clinches and tries to muscle N’Gannou down to the ground and testing that wrestling ability. If Stipe can weather the initial storm from Francis, I see him tiring out N’Gannou and winning a convincing decision.
Stipe Miocic +120
Since BET MGM is the king of parlay’s here is how the parlay odds look!
- If you take every one of my picks and parlay them on BetMGM, wagering $100 you’d win $29,832 (+29732)
- If you just parlay the prelims, using all my picks and wagering $100 you would walk away with $2,525 (+2425)
- Parlay the main card, taking all my picks and wagering $100 you would cash in $1,181 (+1081)
- And if you just want to take my locks and parlay them on BetMGM, wagering $100 you would win $809 (+3709)
Odds subject to change. Good luck!